dig_plan wrote:that spot will also have sway in the first polls of next year.
And whether we like it or not, the first poll has an effect on every poll thereafter. If you are unranked in the pre-season poll, it makes it much more difficult to climb the ladder into the National picture.
UNC-Charlotte, for example, flew under the radar for most of the year and many pollsters didn't put them in their poll until very late in the season. Had they started the season out ranked #8, they would almost certainly be in the field this year.