Great thread CR!
The only team in the final AP rankings in the top 25 that I would call "elite" academically is Notre Dame. Stanford is at 27 if counting the votes. Of course I'm not looking at historical rankings at the moment.
I do not consider UF "elite" academically. Nor UM.
Well the problem here is it is harder to determine "elite" or even rank academic institutions. Famously one year the crappy US News rankings had Wake at something like 7 and UNC-Chapel Hill one below them. Personally, I can not imagine someone getting into both going to Wake.
Other problems are is Chicago "elite?" They have some of the finest graduate programs in the world. They maybe have produced more Nobel winners than any other university. But as an undergrad school they are a bit more Vandy like, ie top regional private school rather than national.
As for your particular opinions, I would not call UND elite academically, but of course it is very good. I would call Stanford elite academically. I would consider UMich elite if that is what your UM stands for (hence the abbreviation controversy that some small minds can not let go of here.) There is not one ranking for colleges and universities and VP's offices try to game the system in those rankings. In football there are fewer rankings that matter and it is probably easier to determine who is elite in football than academically.