Midway through the college football season, Greg McElroy’s Top 15 reflects the chaos that’s been shaking up the sport - with Georgia sitting comfortably at No. 1 and a few familiar powers still lurking near the top, while UCLA and BYU crash the upper tier.
McElroy, speaking on his Always College Football podcast this week, leaned on some of the same names you’d expect from the AP Top 25 at the very top. But once you get past the first few spots, his list starts to separate itself. UCLA in the top 10 is the biggest eyebrow-raiser, and it says plenty about how he sees the season unfolding from here.
Georgia holds the top spot, and it’s hard to argue after the Bulldogs went on the road and beat Alabama in one of the season’s most impressive results so far. That win vaulted Georgia to No. 1 in the national conversation, and the AP Top 25 followed suit by putting the Bulldogs on top by a wide margin.
Indiana comes in at No. 2 after opening 6-0, building on last year’s undefeated run. Curt Cignetti’s team has now gone a long time without a loss, something McElroy highlighted on the podcast.
The Hoosiers haven’t looked quite as overpowering as they did late last season, but they keep getting it done. Josh Hoover, the quarterback transfer from TCU, has settled in nicely.
The biggest measuring stick comes this week against Ohio State.
Miami lands at No. 3, and its offense is doing the heavy lifting. The Hurricanes already handled Wake Forest, which McElroy views as perhaps one of the ACC’s best teams, and now they turn to Florida State in an in-state matchup this weekend.
With that kind of firepower, it would be a surprise if many teams simply run away from Miami. The question is whether the defense can keep progressing enough to make the Hurricanes a truly complete team.
Notre Dame checks in at No. 4 after surviving the kind of early-season scares that have tripped up Marcus Freeman teams in recent years. Wins at North Carolina and against Wisconsin look better with each passing week, but the road gets much harder soon.
The trip to BYU this weekend is the first major test, followed by a home game against Miami on Nov. 7.
Those two games could go a long way in deciding the Irish’s playoff path.
Alabama sits fifth despite the loss to Georgia at home. The defeat drops the Crimson Tide, but only so far - they remain very much in the SEC title picture and the playoff race.
There’s still plenty ahead, starting with a trip to Tennessee this week. After that, LSU looks like the only especially tough challenge left in the second half of the schedule.
Texas falls to No. 6 after its first loss of the year, a defeat to Oklahoma that came with a strong dose of what-if. Arch Manning threw two costly interceptions, and the Longhorns left feeling like a few plays could have tilted everything the other way.
Even so, Texas still has one of the sport’s best resumes, thanks largely to the early win over Ohio State and the added boost from beating Tennessee. The problem now is what’s coming next: Ole Miss, Mississippi State, at Missouri, and at LSU.
Ohio State lands at No. 7, and McElroy treats the Buckeyes’ lone loss as a respectable one for now. A road defeat at a top-five opponent is not the kind of blemish that buries a season, though the margin for error has clearly narrowed.
Indiana comes to town this weekend, and the stakes are obvious. A win would keep playoff expectations alive.
A loss would throw everything back into the air.
UCLA is the surprise of the group at No. 8.
The Bruins have been one of the season’s most unexpected teams, with Bob Chesney earning quick comparisons to Curt Cignetti for how fast he’s changed things. The schedule has been friendly at times, but last week’s win over Oregon gave the ranking real weight.
Wisconsin is next, followed by trips to Minnesota and Michigan, with USC waiting at home in the finale. That’s a manageable run based on what UCLA has shown so far.
Utah comes in at No. 9 after a first half that has been nothing short of dominant. The Utes have won every game by at least two touchdowns, and even when they’ve been a little messy, the final score has still looked convincing. Houston and BYU remain notable home games, but the bigger concern may be the four road tests still left on the schedule.
BYU rounds out McElroy’s top 10 after also starting 5-0. Only one of the Cougars’ wins has come by single digits, a 17-10 result against TCU, which gives the ranking some real substance.
The challenge ahead is huge: No. 2 Notre Dame comes to town this week.
Both teams still have some room to maneuver in the playoff race, but a win here would put either one on a much faster track. McElroy clearly believes BYU belongs in the conversation.
In Other News...
BYU Just Landed A Huge Recruiting Opportunity With A Five-Star Wing
BYU is set to get an important look this month from one of the top names in the 2027 basketball class, as five-star wing AJ Williams plans to visit Provo starting Oct. 15. The 6-foot-7 standout from Eagles Landing Christian Academy has trimmed his list to 10 schools and already made stops at several of them, putting the Cougars squarely in the mix as they continue to chase high-end talent on the wing.
Williams is ranked No. 5 overall in the 2027 cycle, which makes this one of the most significant recruiting battles BYU has been involved in recently. There is no public decision timeline yet, but the visit gives the Cougars a chance to strengthen what is already viewed as a promising position, with a commitment potentially coming before the early signing period in November 2026. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Is Saying All The Right Things About BYU Before Saturday
As Notre Dame gets ready for Saturdays top-10 matchup at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Marcus Freeman has spent the week stressing the basics: execute cleanly, handle the environment and be ready for the noise. He also made it clear that BYUs offense starts with quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who he described as a dual-threat problem for a defense that will have its hands full in Provo.
The Fighting Irish players have echoed that same tone, talking up the significance of the game and the kind of competitive atmosphere they expect on the road. Its the sort of buildup that usually means both sides understand what is at stake, even if the real answer comes only once the opening kickoff turns all the pregame talk into live football. [Read more 🡒]
BYU's Notre Dame Showdown Just Became A National Event
The buildup around BYUs showdown with No. 2 Notre Dame has already pushed it well beyond a normal October home game. With both teams undefeated and the Cougars sitting at No. 8, the matchup in Provo has become one of the hottest tickets of Week 7, with the cheapest seats listed at $429. Its the kind of pricing that says plenty about the stage, and about how much this one matters for BYUs place in the national picture.
The spotlight will only grow brighter with a 5:30 p.m. MT kickoff on ABC and College GameDay setting up on BYUs campus for the first time in 17 years. For the Cougars, it is more than just a marquee date against a name-brand opponent. It is a chance to turn a big regular-season game into a statement about their College Football Playoff credentials, with the whole sport watching to see how Provo handles the moment. [Read more 🡒]