End of year rankings matter more than pre season. Of course teams who have great recruiting classes every year are going to get the benefit of the doubt when there’s so much overturn every year with players going pro/graduating/transferring.It'll be perceived as "less than". It doesn't matter that UC, BYU, and UH are all ranked. In this system ND & UT are preseason over-ranked every f*cking always.
Wins matter more as the season goes on.