Week 5 of College Football’s 2025-26 season has wrapped and we can finally start to make some solid judgements about programs. Some of the South’s Power 4 teams started off on extremely shaky grounds but are now going strong. And it’s the opposite for a few.

Let’s take a look at where things stand by focusing on the programs who took the field in Week 5.

In-State Games

There were no in-state games between the South’s Power 4 program during Week 5.

Regional Games

Baylor walked away with one of Week 5’s most sizeable wins. They beat their neighbor to the north, Oklahoma State by a +18 differential (45-27). The Oklahoma State Cowboys are still a Power 4 program because of their Big 12 membership but are now 1-3 overall and 0-1 against conference opponents with this loss to the Bears.

Tennessee pulled of a +7 (41-34) win over Mississippi State. Going into Week 6 both teams are now 4-1. The Volunteers are 1-1 against SEC opponents so far while the Bulldogs are 0-1 in-conference. Mississippi State’s odds for victory weren’t through the roof going into the game and they made a definite statement by dragging Tennessee into overtime even if the outcome wasn’t what they hoped for.

Texas A&M logged a +6 (16-10) win over Auburn. Texas A&M moves up to 4-0 and Auburn is now 3-2. But it wasn’t a particularly pretty game for either team. Auburn was 0-13 in third down conversions and A&M was 3-14. The Aggies offense outproduced the Tigers 414 yards to 177 yards but the Texas team finished with 119 total penalty yards too.

LSU vs. Ole Miss was one of the most talked about games heading into Week 5. Ole Miss ended up coming out on top with a +5 (24-19) win. While the yells coming from Baton Rouge are loud, the Tigers are only 4-1 overall and 1-1 against SEC opponents. Ole Miss has improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 against conference opponents.

Southeast Games

Kentucky faced off against South Carolina and walked away with a +22 (35-13) win. The Wildcats were definitely the better team but neither program is having the best go of things in 2025-26 season. Kentucky is now 2-2 overall and 0-2 in SEC play. South Carolina is 3-2 overall and 1-2 in conference competition.

Alabama is bouncing back from its early season woes and made a big step in the right direction with a +3 (24-21) win over Georgia. It was a pretty tight game, with Alabama tallying up 397 yards of total offense and Georgia putting up 357 yards of total offense. The two teams are now both 3-1 with the Crimson Tide being 1-0 in SEC play and the Bulldogs being 1-1 in SEC play.

Out-Region Games

Vanderbilt is on a tear. They pulled off a +20 (55-35) win over Utah State and are now 5-0 overall. Their only SEC opponent so far has been South Carolina, who they beat 31-7. And they also notched a 44-20 win over the ACC’s Virginia Tech.

Louisville finished Week 5 with a +7 (34-27) win over the in-conference opponent Pitt. The Cardinals are now 4-0 overall and 1-0 against ACC competition.

Houston edged out a narrow +3 (27-24) victory over Oregon State. The Cougars are now up to 4-0 overall while the Beavers have fallen to a crippling 0-5 heading into Week 6. The Realignment Wars continue to wreak havoc on the cast-out, former Pac-12 member.

TCU dropped a -3 (24-27) loss to Arizona State. It was the Horned Frog’s first loss of the season and they’re no 3-1, fresh off a big 35-24 win over DFW rival SMU. Arizona State outproduced them with 498 total offensive yards to 269 total offensive yards. This is the third Texas team they’ve beat in a row, with a 27-24 win over Baylor last week and a 34-15 win over Texas State the game before.

The region’s most catastrophic loss was Arkansas’ -43 (13-56) manhandling by Notre Dame. Before Sunday was over, Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman had been served his walking papers. Check out my breakdown, from the Notre Dame perspective, over on One Foot Down.

Team Rankings: Offense – Overall

1. Tennessee: 536.4 yards per game

2. Arkansas: 514.6 yards per game

3. Baylor: 504.2 yards per game

4. Vanderbilt: 494.4 yards per game

5. Texas A7M: 463.8 yards per game

Team Rankings: Offense – Passing

1. Baylor: 349 yards per game

2. Tennessee: 337 yards per game

3. Alabama: 322 yards per game

4. TCU: 321 yards per game

5. Arkansas: 301 yards per game

Team Rankings: Offense – Rushing

1. Vanderbilt: 223 yards per game

2. Arkansas: 214 yards per game

3. Mississippi State: 205 yards per game

4. Tennessee: 199 yards per game

5. Kentucky: 188 yards per game

Team Rankings: Defense – Overall

1. Houston: 265.5 yards allowed per game

2. Louisville: 268.3 yards allowed per game

3. Alabama: 274.0 yards allowed per game

4. Vanderbilt: 278.8 yards allowed per game

5. LSU: 293.0 yards allowed per game

Team Rankings: Defense – Passing

1. Alabama: 114 yards allowed per game

2. Houston: 140 yards allowed per game

3. Louisville: 151 yards allowed per game

4. Mississippi State: 170 yards allowed per game

5. Texas A&M: 190 yards allowed per game

Team Rankings: Defense – Rushing

1. Vanderbilt: 80 yards allowed per game

2. LSU: 84 yards allowed per game

3. Auburn: 88 yards allowed per game

4. Tennessee: 114 yards allowed per game

5. Texas A&M: 117 yards allowed per game

CFB South: Week 5 Review