I agree wholeheartedly. This has always been my biggest problem with the rankings. IMO, they should wait until 2-3 weeks into the season to put out the first rankings. You can't always know how good or bad a team will be before the season starts.
Perfect example is LSU this year. They started the season ranked #5 in the country. They went out and got whooped by #8 Florida State. They followed that up by beating Grambling, and the Mississippi State convincingly. Miss St. isn't terrible, but they're a mid-level SEC team, so no huge accomplishment. Then they barely scraped by Arkansas, 34-31, and last week got beat by Ole Miss.
Is that the resume of a top 25 team? A 3-2 record with your best win vs. Arkansas, while losing to both of the top 25 teams you've played.
I'm not saying they're a bad team by any means, but currently they're ranked #23 mostly due to the fact that they started the year at #5.