Regarding your point above about when a team was ranked, I use Poly as an example. They were playing outstanding football when they ran all over SDSU and came into the Alerus Center two weeks later. Slowly, teams have gotten tape on them and slowed down the option.
Does that mean Poly wasn't one of the Top 10 teams in the country for the first 5-6 weeks of the year? Not in my mind. It means their staff hasn't adjusted to what teams are doing, they are having injuries, etc.