Personally there I think there should be no polls until several weeks in. It gives undo high rankings to some (USuCk and ND) and undo low rankings to others. Let things play out then really see who should be ranked and where. I really dont care where we are now, frankly it doesn't matter. Win and things will fix themselves.
See I disagree how many teams like boise state, utah, cinn, byu, started out the year not ranked/ranked 20-25 moved up to contention. Grant it they might have been kept out because of their lack of "house hold name" but I think if you have a team who is usually in the mix year in year out they could go from un-ranked at the beginning of the year to NC game at the end. For example if USuCk, nd, or miami were un-ranked and went on a tear winning every game have way through the season we would be hearing about it on espn and how they are in contention. Just my humble opinion.
I think it is especially true for those teams. Taking Boise St. for example, they are one of the winningest teams over the last decade. They have had 6 undefeated and 1 loss teams since 2002 and it has only been the last couple of years that they have been mentioned as BCS championship contenders. It has taken them multiple years, and a win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl to get them in the conversation. A team like that will never go from unranked to title contender. They have to build momentum from previous years and enter the season ranked pretty highly, as Boise St. has done. I think that there are a few media darlings that have an easier time at it than others, I'll give you that, but even they can get left out if the teams ahead of them don't lose. You need big wins at the end of the year to jump a team that's been sitting at #1 all season long, and just ask Auburn if that is a guarantee.
If you start number one, and stumble, against a highly ranked team, you might can recover. If you start 8 or 9 and stumble, you are toast.
