The college football offseason provides a glimpse of what outsiders and insiders think about select programs and then place expectations upon them for the upcoming year.
Is it silly and unnecessary?
Yes. As we learned last season when the Michigan Wolverines began the year unranked in the AP Poll and subsequently won the Big Ten Championship and reached the College Football Playoff (the first team to ever to achieve this), nothing matters until the games are played.
Is it fun to debate, discuss and argue over arbitrary lists with rivals and friends alike? Hell yes!