Greg McElroy reveals new Top 25 college football rankings with big changes

Through just six weeks, the 2025 college football season has been completely unpredictable.

The preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Texas and Penn State have already completely fallen out of the AP Top 25 Rankings, while programs such as Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Texas Tech have surprised everybody with how good they’ve been.

Heading into week seven of the college football season, ESPN‘s Greg McElroy revealed his new Top 25 Rankings on the latest edition of the ‘Always College Football Podcast‘.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0)

Ohio State, fueled by the best defense in the country, comes in at No. 1 in Greg McElroy‘s Top 25 Rankings. The Buckeyes have allowed a total of 25 points through five games, with no opponent reaching the 10-point mark. Their offense is also averaging 37.4 points per game and look to be the favorites to repeat as National Champions through five games.

“Their best win this season is against a 4-1 Washington team at Washington,” McElroy said. “They also have a couple other decent wins against Minnesota (3-2) and Texas (3-2). They have Illinois on the road this week, so they have another opportunity to stock their resume and improve. This’ll be one of the tougher tests for Ohio State this year as far as quality of the opponent, but I like the matchup for the Buckeyes this weekend no matter what.”

2. Miami Hurricanes (5-0, 1-0)

Through five games, Miami boasts what is likely the best resume of any team in the country. Three of Miami‘s five wins are against teams currently ranked in this week’s AP Poll (No. 16 Notre Dame, No. 24 USF and No. 25 Florida State) and it won those games by an average of 15.3 points. Defensive lineman Reuben Bain Jr. has also emerged as the best defensive player in the country and ranks sixth in On3’s latest Heisman Trophy Poll.

“Their best win right now technically, from a standpoint of wins and losses, is South Florida,” McElroy said. “They’re 4-1. Florida State is 3-2 and Notre Dame is 3-2, and now is that Florida win starting to improve? We’ll see. I love what I’ve seen from Miami. They are one of the most complete teams in college football and their resume (hopefully for them) could strengthen in the weeks to come.”

3. Ole Miss Rebels (5-0, 3-0)

Ole Miss seems to be in the driver’s lane for a spot in the SEC Championship, as it opened conference play with a 3-0 record. A long season remains ahead, but the Rebels certainly look the part. They are led offensively by quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who is one of the best stories in the sport. He didn’t open the year as their starter, but ranks third in On3’s latest Heisman Trophy Poll.

“They right now have two wins against teams that are 4-1,” McElroy said. “One is LSU, who I still believe in as a real team moving forward. The other is Tulane. Both of those teams are 4-1 this year. They get credit for that. They have Washington State this weekend in a unique non-conference game here in the midway point of October.”

4. Oregon Ducks (5-0, 2-0)

It looked as if the Ducks earned one of the best wins of the college football season on the road at Penn State last week, but the Nittany Lions went and lost to 0-4 UCLA and flushed that down the drain. It’s now back to the drawing board for Oregon after a bye-week, as it hosts Indiana in one of the biggest Big Ten games of the season on Saturday.

“Their best win this year is against Penn State,” McElroy said. “They’re now 3-2, so that win took a bit of a dent with the performance last week that Penn State put on the field against UCLA. Still a very big believer in Oregon. As far as resume right now for Oregon, they haven’t had as many opportunities as some other teams in front of them to knock off really high-level competition. They’ll face Indiana this weekend, so if you’re worried about lack of competition, don’t worry. You’ve got the Hoosiers coming to town this weekend. A win against them will vault Oregon up even higher.”

5. Oklahoma Sooners (5-0, 1-0)

Oklahoma will face a tall task this weekend, as it remains unlikely that star quarterback John Mateer will be cleared for the Sooners’ ‘Red River Rivalry’ clash against Texas. Backup Michael Hawkins Jr. looked great against Kent State however, passing for 162 yards and three touchdowns in their 44-0 win. Hawkins Jr. passed for 148 yards in last season’s 34-3 loss to the Longhorns.

“Their best win is against a 4-1 Michigan team,” McElroy said. “They’ll take on the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry this weekend.”

6. Indiana Hoosiers (5-0, 2-0)

Indiana has a massive opportunity this weekend to really cement itself as a College Football Playoff contender when it travels to Eugene for a monstrous clash against Oregon. The Hoosiers have won 16 of their last 17 regular season games and look to make it 17 of 18 this weekend. Just like the Ducks, they’re coming off a bye-week following their gutsy 20-15 win over Iowa.

“Their best wins, they have two I think are both pretty good, are against Illinois at home (which they made minced meat of) and then they went to Iowa and beat a 3-2 Iowa team,” McElroy said. “Two decent wins there for the Hoosiers that are kind of propping us their resume. They’ll go to Oregon this weekend though in a huge test for the Hoosiers. I think they’re a good football team though and deserve to be in the top six.”

7. Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-0, 2-0)

Texas Tech is 5-0 for the first time since 2013 with two dominant wins over Big 12 foes Utah and Houston. The Red Raiders, fueled by a monstrous NIL budget, certainly look like one of the best teams in college football through five games and can really show it with wins in their next two games against Kansas and Arizona State.

“They have two wins on the road against teams currently sitting at 4-1,” McElroy said. “At Utah (who they beat convincingly) and at Houston (who they beat convincingly). Well you’re gonna say ‘is Houston good’ and ‘is Utah good’… I don’t know. All I know is those two teams are 4-1 and Texas Tech beat them badly at their place. As a result they are at No. 7. They’ll play Kansas at home this weekend.”

8. Texas A&M Aggies (5-0, 2-0)

Texas A&M, much like the aforementioned in-state Red Raiders, are 5-0 for the first time in almost a decade. Mike Elko has led his Aggies to three consecutive quality wins (No. 8 Notre Dame, Auburn and Mississippi State) with Florida and Arkansas on the docket in coming weeks. Quarterback Marcel Reed has been tearing it up in College Station, as he boasts 11 passing scores and just three interceptions this season.

“I like A&M and the polls have them a little higher than this, but their resume is not as impressive as some of the aforementioned teams,” McElroy said. “They did beat a good Mississippi State team (they’re 4-2) and they beat a 3-2 Auburn and a 3-2 Notre Dame. They have Florida this week. This could be another opportunity to flex a bit, but Florida‘s probably not gonna help them in the resume department because if they beat them they’ll fall to 2-4. So A&M, from a resume standpoint, not there just yet. But hopefully Auburn can improve, Notre Dame can keep winning and Mississippi State can continue to be disruptive in the SEC. It’ll only strengthen the Aggies’ resume.”

9. Alabama Crimson Tide (4-1, 2-0)

Alabama‘s 2025 season opened with a shocking 31-17 road loss to Florida State, but Kalen DeBoer has really turned his Crimson Tide around in the last four games. This includes blowout wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Wisconsin and strong victories over No. 5 Georgia and No. 16 Vanderbilt. With games against No. 14 Missouri and No. 12 Tennessee upcoming, the Tide could really pad their resume en route to a College Football appearance.

“They are top ranked one-loss team,” McElroy said. “They have two really good wins; one against the 4-1 Georgia Bulldogs at their place and Vanderbilt at home (who is 5-1). The Tide did lose to Florida State but they’ll get another opportunity this weekend to take on another top-15 team by going up to Columbia, MO to take on the Missouri Tigers.”

10. Georgia Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1)

Georgia bounced back from its disappointing loss to Alabama with a dominant 35-14 win over Kentucky between the hedges on Saturday. The Bulldogs, even with the loss to the Crimson Tide, already boast a strong win over Tennessee and could collect even more with games against Ole Miss, Texas and Georgia Tech remaining on the schedule.

“They do not have the head-to-head with Alabama, so Alabama‘s at nine and Georgia‘s at 10,” McElroy said. “Their best win comes against the Tennessee Volunteers on the road, who are also 4-1. They did lose to Bama but they’ll travel to the Auburn Tigers this weekend in what might be a tough game for both sides. It’ll be a very physical game.”

Teams 11-25:

11. Tennessee Volunteers (4-1, 1-1)
12. Missouri Tigers (5-0, 1-0)
13. LSU Tigers (4-1, 1-1)
14. Michigan Wolverines (4-1, 2-0)
15. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-1, 2-1)
16. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-0, 2-0)
17. Virginia Cavaliers (5-1, 3-0)
18. Arizona State Sun Devils (4-1, 2-0)
19. Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-1, 1-1)
20. Cincinnati Bearcats (4-1, 2-0)
21. BYU Cougars (5-0, 2-0)
22. Iowa State Cyclones (5-1, 2-1)
23. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3-2)
24. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-1, 1-1)
25. Florida State Seminoles (3-2, 0-2)

McElroy’s Notable Omissions:

Memphis Tigers (6-0, 2-0)
USF Bulls (4-1, 1-0)
USC Trojans (4-1, 2-1)
Texas Longhorns (3-2, 0-1)
Penn State Nittany Lions (3-2, 0-2)
Washington Huskies (4-1, 1-1)