Last week, the USA Today preseason rankings were released, and we are still a few weeks away from any football being played. These rankings might seem harmless, but they prematurely shape the way fans and the media perceives each school and the quality of wins early in the season.
Let’s take last year for example. The first weekend of the season saw preseason #5 LSU take on unranked Wisconsin. Wisconsin won a snooze fest 16-14 and the next week landed in the top 10. Wisconsin beat a good team, no doubt. But I don’t think anyone would argue that at any point in the 2016 season, LSU was a top 5 team.