Greg McElroy Criticizes National Powerhouse’s 'Really Low' Ranking in AP Top 25

The ESPN analyst disagrees where AP voters placed a Big Ten contender and explains why its roster and schedule point toward another CFP run.

ESPN analyst Greg McElroy believes this Big Ten program didn't get enough respect in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

College football preseason polls often reward projection more than the tangible. Even a perfect season and a national championship do not guarantee a team the benefit of the doubt when its roster changes.

ESPN's Greg McElroy is not buying Indiana at No. 6. The Always College Football host broke down the 2026 preseason AP Top 25 on Monday and spent a moment defending the defending national champions.

Indiana went 16-0 last season and won its first title in program history. Yet, voters still placed five teams ahead of the Hoosiers.

McElroy called the spot too low, and noted that eight voters ranked Indiana first, showing strong respect for college football's reigning titleholder.

Greg McElroy says Indiana's No. 6 AP Top 25 ranking is too low

Head Coach Curt Cignetti during Indiana University's football camp practice on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

McElroy did not argue that Indiana should open at No. 1. He argued that sixth undersells what the program just did.

"Now, we wouldn't have it been No. 1, but man, six feels low," McElroy said. "I know they lost a lot. I get it, but that is really low in my opinion."

The former Alabama quarterback then walked through the first-place vote count. Indiana received the third most first-place votes with eight, behind Ohio State at 40 and Oregon at 14, but ahead of Notre Dame at six and Miami at one. So eight voters ranked the Hoosiers first while the group as a whole slotted them sixth.

Indiana opened last season ranked No. 20 in the preseason AP poll, then finished 16-0 and won the College Football Playoff national championship. No preseason poll in the Playoff era has been more wrong about a champion, so that may just be the new normal in today's NIL era that sees huge roster overhauls via the transfer portal.

Why Indiana is underrated in the 2026 preseason AP Top 25

Indiana belongs in the top three. The case rests on the defense, the offensive line and the schedule.

Start with what came back on defense. Indiana's defense ranked fourth nationally overall and second in scoring last season, allowing 11.7 points per game, and six starters return for coordinator Bryant Haines. That unit produced the second-most sacks in the FBS with 46 and led the country with 129 tackles for loss. Opponents managed just 2.99 yards per carry.

Josh Hoover replaces Fernando Mendoza. Hoover completed 65.9% of his throws for 3,472 yards with 29 touchdowns in 2025, and he enters the season as college football's leading returning passer with 9,629 career yards and second in touchdowns with 71. He also threw 13 interceptions, which is the one thing that has to change.

Lack of returning production being used against Hoosiers

Indiana's Josh Hoover (10) brings a ton of experience to the Hoosiers via the transfer portal. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Returning production is the argument against them. Indiana returns just 56% of its production, which ranks 52nd nationally and 13th in the Big Ten. But that number treats transfers as unknowns. The Hoosiers bring back 139 returning starts, seventh in the conference, plus 99 returning starts acquired through the portal, third in the league.

Cignetti has done this twice already. Hoover is his third straight starting quarterback acquired through the transfer portal, after Kurtis Rourke reached the Playoff in 2024 and Mendoza won the title in 2025.

Indiana also plays eight home games, including matchups against Ohio State and USC. The Hoosiers avoid Oregon, Penn State, Illinois and Iowa, giving Cignetti's rebuilt roster a manageable path back to the Playoff.

A team with the sixth-best projected defense, three returning offensive linemen, the leading returning passer in the sport and eight home games should not be sitting behind four teams that did not win anything last January.