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College football odds, picks, predictions for Week 5, 2024: Proven model backs Notre Dame in best bets

SportsLine's advanced computer model has revealed its 2024 Week 5 college football picks

24 Sep 2024, 11:34 · CBS Sports

Conference battles are well underway across the country, with pivotal matchups taking place during the Week 5 college football schedule. None of them are more important than Saturday night's SEC showdown between No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Both teams are coming off a bye, so bettors will be expecting both teams' best efforts in a game that has Georgia favored by 2 points in the Week 5 college football odds. The Bulldogs have not lost a regular season game since 2020, but should you back them with your Week 5 college football bets?

Elsewhere, No. 9 Penn State will face its first ranked opponent of the season when it hosts No. 19 Illinois on Saturday night. The Nittany Lions are 17.5-point favorites in the Week 5 college football spreads, even though Illinois has already beaten two ranked opponents this season. Before locking in any Week 5 college football picks on those games or others, be sure to see the latest college football predictions from SportsLine's proven model.

The model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Since its inception, it has generated a profit of well over $2,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It is also coming off a profitable 13-9 season on top-rated spread picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen strong returns!

Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds and Week 5 college football betting lines on the spread, money line and over/under. Head here to see every pick.

Top college football predictions for Week 5

One of the college football picks the model is high on during Week 5: No. 16 Notre Dame (-4.5) picks up a double-digit win over No. 15 Louisville in a 3:30 p.m. ET matchup on Saturday. The Fighting Irish have won 13 of their last 15 games against ACC opponents, and they have played their best football against the top two teams they have faced this season. They opened the campaign with a 23-13 win at then-No. 20 Texas A&M before crushing Purdue in a 66-7 road win.

Senior quarterback Riley Leonard is among the most experienced signal callers in the country, passing for 587 yards while rushing for 322 yards through his first four games of the season. He has accounted for seven total touchdowns, and he is facing a Louisville team that is playing on the road for the first time in 2024. The Cardinals are 6-13 in their last 19 road games, so the model has Notre Dame covering the spread in well over 60% of simulations. See the rest of its Week 5 college football picks here.

Another prediction: No. 21 Oklahoma (-3) notches a comfortable road win at Auburn in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday. The Sooners will be motivated to get back on track following their 25-15 loss to then-No. 6 Tennessee last week. They struggled to get anything going offensively under sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold, but they had more success when they replaced Arnold with freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. late in the first half.

Hawkins completed 11 of 18 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 22 yards. Head coach Brent Venables has not named a starter for this game, but Hawkins gives Oklahoma a promising young option at quarterback. Auburn has dropped two of its last three games and is coming off a double-digit home loss to Arkansas, so the model has Oklahoma covering the spread well over 60% of the time. See picks for every other game in Week 5 here.

How to make college football picks for Week 5

The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every FBS matchup in Week 5, and it's calling for a whopping 10 underdogs to win outright, including an upset in one of the biggest games of the week. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.

So what college football picks can you make with confidence, and which 10 underdogs win outright in Week 5? Check out the latest college football odds below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win and cover the spread, all from a proven computer model that has returned well over $2,000 in profit since its inception, and find out.