Breaking Down Final Preseason SP+ Rankings for 2026 The annual ritual of preseason college football rankings has begun, and with it, the inevitable backlash from coaches and fans who insist that these numbers are meaningless until actual games have been played.
SMU's Rhett Lashlee is just the latest to rail against the idea of projecting team performance before a single snap has been taken.
Lashlee's argument – that preseason rankings are arbitrary and based on incomplete information – misses the point.