College football Week 5 – NC State-Clemson, Alabama-Arkansas highlight the biggest games

College football’s Week 5 is here and with it comes five top-25 matchups, including three games between teams ranked in the top 16.

Off the heels of an emotional double-overtime win against Wake Forest, DJ Uiagalelei and Clemson host NC State in a top-10 ACC showdown. SEC play is in full swing as undefeated Kentucky and unbeaten Ole Miss square off in Oxford, while Arkansas, coming off a tough loss in the Southwest Classic, welcomes Alabama.

Not to be outdone, the Big 12 hosts one of the biggest rivalries the conference has to offer, as Baylor hosts Oklahoma State in a crucial game for the league standings.

Elsewhere, a ranked Washington heads to Los Angeles in a battle of unbeatens, while Michigan will try to survive in Iowa City.

Here are the key storylines from this week’s biggest games.

No. 10 NC State Wolfpack at No. 5 Clemson Tigers (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN app)

NC State and Clemson first played in 1899, but there has never been a bigger game in the history of their matchup than the one coming on Saturday, for one historical reason: It marks the first time the schools have faced each other as top-10 teams.

It also will be the first time No. 10 NC State has played in an AP Top 10 matchup.

No. 5 Clemson is used to being in this situation, having played in six of the past seven ACC championship games, along with six College Football Playoff appearances. But this is all new for the Wolfpack, who used a highly successful 2021 campaign as a springboard into outsize expectations for this year. Linebacker Isaiah Moore, one of the many veterans who returned for this season, told ESPN.com that there is a reason so many players came back: to win a championship.

That has been an elusive goal for NC State. Playing in the same division as Florida State and Clemson, the Wolfpack have never played in an ACC championship game. In fact, NC State has not won an ACC title since 1979. In-state rivals North Carolina and Wake Forest have made ACC championship…