ESPN College Football

Greg McElroy ranks his Top 25 teams going into the 2026 college football season, starting with teams 25-11. McElroy explains reasons he loves each team, areas of concern and if they can live up to the hype. | Always College Football
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Greg McElroy breaks down his Big Ten tiers, discussing which teams COULD win it all, which teams can make the playoff, who can play spoiler, who will make a bowl game and who needs work. How many teams can truly claim the title? Why Indiana can certainly do it again, Ohio State will be in the conversation, and is it Oregon’s year? Plus, USC is set up well for possibly its best season of the Lincoln Riley era, and can we see lots of success for Penn State in year one under Matt Campbell? Additionally, why Greg is high on Washington, what to watch for with Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska, and more. | Always College Football

Approximate timecodes:

(0:00) Intro

(3:14) Tier 1: Oregon

(7:00) Tier 1: Ohio State

(10:20) Tier 1: Indiana

(13:54) Tier 2: USC

(16:30) Tier 2: Washington

(18:17) Tier 2: Penn State

(20:42) Tier 2: Michigan

(23:46) Tier 3: Iowa

(25:51) Tier 3: Illinois

(27:39) Tier 3: Nebraska

(29:36) Tier 4: Wisconsin

(31:17) Tier 4: Minnesota

(32:50) Tier 4: UCLA

(34:38) Tier 4: Maryland

(36:02) Tier 5: Northwestern

(37:37) Tier 5: Michigan State

(39:04) Tier 5: Rutgers

(40:25) Tier 5: Purdue

(41:51) Thanks for watching
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Greg McElroy breaks down the tiers in the ACC for the upcoming season and tells you why Miami is the only national title contender, if SMU and Clemson can get back to the CFP and if Louisville is primed to crash the party. Can Florida State bounce back, do Virginia and Duke have staying power, will year 2 at North Carolina under Bill Belichick yield better results and is this the year that Virginia Tech breaks through with James Franklin? The ACC is deep and McElroy is here to break it all down from contenders to spoilers.
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Greg McElroy breaks down the “tiers” in the SEC for the upcoming season and tells you why Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss and Oklahoma all can WIN a National Title. Is LSU ready to compete for a CFP spot in year one under Kiffin, will Alabama make it back to the CFP and can Texas A&M carry over the momentum from last season? Is Tennessee ready to make a big jump and where will Florida, Auburn, South Carolina and Missouri fall in the pecking order. Is this the year the SEC gets back to the top of the mountain?
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Greg McElroy breaks down the ‘tiers’ in the BIG 12 with four CFP contenders but is there a legit National Championship contender in the conference? How will Texas Tech handle the bullseye on their back? Is BYU in the BIG 12 “championship or bust” mentality? Can Houston improve their win total again and what can we expect from the fresh start in Utah? Can TCU, Kansas State, Arizona State and Oklahoma State be more than spoilers? How will Coach Prime and Colorado look, plus are bounce back seasons in line for Baylor, UCF and Kansas?

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