Greg McElroy’s latest Top 15 is beginning to look like a snapshot of a season that refuses to stay still.
The ESPN analyst released his rankings on the Always College Football podcast this week, and while the top few spots line up with the AP Top 25, McElroy starts to break from the crowd pretty quickly. He has Georgia at No. 1 after its huge road win over Alabama, and from there the board gets interesting - with UCLA sliding into the top 10 and several unbeaten teams stacking up behind the usual heavyweights.
Georgia sits alone at the top for good reason. The Bulldogs’ win in Tuscaloosa was the kind of result that changes the conversation, and McElroy clearly treated it that way.
It was enough to push Georgia to the top of his rankings, and the AP Top 25 did the same by a wide margin. Right now, there’s not much debate about who owns the top chair.
Indiana comes next at No. 2, and McElroy made a point of noting just how long it has been since Curt Cignetti’s team last took a loss. The Hoosiers are 6-0 after following up an undefeated season a year ago, and while they may not have felt as overpowering as they did late last season, they’ve still checked every box so far. Josh Hoover has settled in well after transferring from TCU, and now Indiana gets its biggest test yet against Ohio State.
Miami lands at No. 3 after already knocking off Wake Forest, which McElroy viewed as one of the ACC’s better teams. The Hurricanes do not have a schedule loaded with elite challenges, but they’ve already handled what was in front of them, and they get Florida State this weekend. With Miami’s offense rolling the way it has, McElroy’s question becomes whether the defense can keep developing enough to make the Hurricanes a truly complete team.
Notre Dame checks in at No. 4, and the early-season drama that has haunted Marcus Freeman’s teams in past years hasn’t shown up this time around. The Irish have survived those opening scares and picked up road wins over North Carolina and Wisconsin that look better with each passing week.
The real pressure starts now, though. A trip to unbeaten BYU is first, followed by a Nov. 7 home game against Miami.
McElroy’s point was simple: those two games could define Notre Dame’s playoff path.
Alabama drops to No. 5 after the loss to Georgia, but the fall is more bruise than collapse. The Crimson Tide are still very much alive in the SEC race and the playoff picture.
Tennessee is next on the schedule, which gives them another major checkpoint right away, and LSU stands out as the toughest remaining game after that. McElroy’s message was clear: Alabama still has plenty left to play for.
Texas comes in at No. 6 after its first loss of the year, a setback against Oklahoma that left plenty of room for regret. McElroy framed it as a game full of “what if” moments, including Arch Manning’s two costly interceptions.
Even so, the Longhorns still have one of the best resumes in the sport thanks to wins over Ohio State and Tennessee. The problem is what comes next: Ole Miss, Mississippi State, at Missouri, at LSU.
That stretch is a grind.
Ohio State is right behind Texas at No. 7, and McElroy did not treat the Buckeyes’ lone loss as anything close to damaging. Falling at Texas is still a respectable result, especially with the Longhorns’ résumé looking the way it does.
But the Indiana game this weekend has real weight. A win keeps Ohio State on the expected playoff track.
A loss, as McElroy put it, changes everything.
UCLA is the new arrival in the top 10 at No. 8, and McElroy is clearly buying into what the Bruins have done so far. Bob Chesney has been compared to Curt Cignetti for the speed of the turnaround, and the Oregon win last week gave the ranking some real traction.
The schedule has not exactly been brutal, but the Bruins keep taking care of business. Wisconsin is up next, with road trips to Minnesota and Michigan still on deck, plus USC at home to finish.
McElroy sees a path there.
Utah lands at No. 9 after a first half that has been as steady as it has been dominant. The Utes have won every game by at least two touchdowns, even when things got a little messy along the way.
That kind of margin tells its own story. Houston and BYU are still ahead, but both are at home, and the four remaining road games could be the tricky part.
BYU rounds out McElroy’s top 10 at No. 10, and the Cougars have earned the placement by starting 5-0. Only one game has been decided by single digits so far, the 17-10 win over TCU, which says plenty about how cleanly they’ve executed.
The next test is enormous: No. 2 Notre Dame comes to town.
McElroy likes BYU enough to put it in the top 10, and a win this weekend would make that belief look even stronger.
McElroy’s rankings for Nos. 11-15 were not included in the excerpt released with his top 10.
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