Colonial Athletic Association

Top 25 matchups highlight Week 5 schedule

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:52 p.m. ET

(STATS) - Keeping the momentum going.

The conference season will hit a higher gear in Week 5 of the regular season with likely no fewer than four conference games that match FCS Top 25 teams.

Next Saturday's schedule will be highlighted in the Southland Conference by No. 3 Sam Houston State at No. 12 Central Arkansas and the Missouri Valley Football Conference by No. 4 South Dakota State at No. 6 Youngstown State. Only Sam Houston played a game in Week 4, with the other three powers taking two weeks to prepare for their pivotal game.

South Dakota's visit to Western Illinois in the MVFC and two-time defending Southern Conference champion The Citadel's trip to Samford also figure to come out of the Top 25.

The last three Pioneer Football League champions are represented with San Diego's visit to Dayton, although the host Flyers are coming off a league loss to Morehead State. Also, the grind of the CAA Football schedule is evident with top-ranked James Madison moving right from a tough win over Maine to a visit to Delaware.

Other key conference games include Weber State at Montana State in the Big Sky, Albany at Elon in the CAA, North Carolina A&T at South Carolina State in the MEAC, Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois in the MVFC, Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference and McNeese at Stephen F. Austin in the Southland.

The nonconference games include Saint Francis at Liberty.