Week 5 isn’t exactly Separation Saturday in the SEC, but there are games in and out of the conference that will influence the Playoff pecking order.

Here are the 5 storylines I’m most interested in watching unfold today.

1. No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Stanford

If you follow me on Twitter, you know how adamantly opposed I am to 9-game conference schedules.

The reasons are simple and bullet-proof:

1. We already have a mechanism for crowning a conference champion — championship games. We don’t need to make the already unbalanced nature of cross-division games more unequal by adding more of them.

2. We’re terrible at determining with any certainty beyond yelling which Power 5 conference is the best, and, most important, which is the worst. The only way to solve that is for the Power 5s to start playing every other Power 5. (Once the Playoff expands to 8, the scheduling won’t matter nearly as much because P5 champions will receive an automatic berth, along with the best Group of 5 team and 2 at-larges. Until such time, however, at least one Power 5 is guaranteed of missing the Playoff every year, so being able to compare leagues is far more critical now than it will be.)

A few months ago, it dawned on me that this is why I’ve always liked Notre Dame’s schedule.

The Irish play everybody.

This year, the Irish will play 5 ACC teams, 2 Big Ten teams, 2 Pac-12 teams and 1 SEC team. Doing so gives us a far better feel for how they would actually hold up in those conferences, against those varied styles and schemes.

Saturday night, they host undefeated Stanford. The Cardinal plays exactly one Power 5 team outside the Pac-12 — Notre Dame.

Here’s why the Cardinal’s small sample size is a problem: If Stanford wins this game, we’re just left to assume it would beat a lot of other Power 5 teams, too. If Stanford loses — and then wins the Pac-12 — we’re left to assume that a lot of other Power 5 teams could have won the Pac-12.

Disagree? The Pac-12 has made the Playoff twice and been left out twice.

Both times it made the Playoff, its representative won its only regular-season game against another Power 5 conference.

Both times it didn’t make the Playoff, its conference champion lost its only game against another Power 5 conference.

Keep that in mind as you watch tonight’s clash in South Bend.

2. No. 4 Ohio State at No. 9 Penn State

Here’s a fun fact: The winner of this game hasn’t made the Playoff the past 3 years. (The loser did once, though, in 2016. You know, because every game matters.)

Ohio State the program might be repulsive, but this team is a Playoff threat. Dwayne Haskins is a legitimate Heisman candidate. If the Buckeyes get past this, there’s nothing in their way of 13-0. The Buckeyes’ Playoff path becomes the easiest in the country.

3. No. 13 UCF vs. Pitt

Bill Hancock, a really nice guy and the spokesman for the College Football Playoff, reiterated this week the false notion that UCF has a path to the Playoff.

The reality is the Knights have no path. No matter what they accomplish, there is no escaping the fact they play only one game against a Power 5 conference — and it’s against an average one at that.

There is nothing UCF can do to change its plight, either. It’s condescending to suggest the “Knights play a better schedule.” The best they could ever do is 4 games against P5 competition, and good luck finding 2 P5 programs that want to play them in Orlando.

The entire schedule argument is a convenient, omnipresent excuse to keep them out of the Playoff.

However … let’s also not pretend like UCF has recruited enough quality offensive and defensive linemen necessary to survive 8 games in the SEC.

In a 1-game situation? Of course the Knights are talented enough to win that. But the reality is, this team would wear down and become a 6-2, 5-3 team even in the SEC East.

This is why the Committee can’t exactly reward their schedule, either. That’s the problem with the 4-team Playoff. No Group of 5 team can ever clear the schedule hurdle.

If you’re tired of hearing about the Knights, pull for Pitt. One loss to an average ACC team will end this debate. This year, at least.

4. Jalen Hurts isn’t quitting

I never thought he would. I thought he would be interested in preserving the redshirt option, but he seems far more interested in playing every week and focusing on 2018.

He’ll have ample opportunities to play today against Louisiana … and he’s expected to play today against Louisiana. One snap at any point during the rest of the season will preclude him from redshirting.

Hurts’ situation is completely different from Clemson’s Kelly Bryant, who already is a senior. Had Bryant played another snap for Clemson, his college eligibility would have expired after the season.

5. SEC East pecking order

Who’s No. 2?

We’re about to find out.

No. 17 Kentucky enters today with the edge, but that’s hardly a guarantee it stays that way. The Wildcats, ranked for the first time since 2007, have a huge opportunity against preseason darling South Carolina. The Gamecocks were thought to be Georgia’s primary challenger. As quickly as the Gamecocks’ bubble burst, so too could the Wildcats’ if they fall tonight.

Florida also has a real opportunity to jump back into the mix — if they can topple No. 17 Mississippi State in Starkville.

If that happens, the SEC East would be 2-0 against not only the SEC West — but the SEC West’s trendy dark-horse pick.

Suddenly and pretty dramatically, Georgia’s upcoming 3-game stretch at LSU, vs. Florida in Jacksonville and at Kentucky, would look a lot tougher on Oct. 1 than it did in August.