yes, obviously best case is 14-0 and winning a big bowl. I guess instead of saying "best case" I should say "most realistic good case". I really do think we won so many games last year with amazingly big plays on offense and defense that it is, in my opinion, very unlikely we will repeat that many "instant game changing" type of plays so frequently. I hope we can, but it just seems unlikely any team would do that two seasons in a row. I realize we do have some real home run hitters on offense, so we shall see.
That should change very quickly after the first few games. You are right about pre-season polls. Of course, it matters more for G5 to enter with some votes than it does P5. P5 can get into the top 25 pretty quickly. With G5, you almost have to be undefeated for the whole season to get noticed, if you start out at 60 to 70.