Too early to know about usf yet this year due to them playing an ooc fcs opponent in the first week.
IMO, pre-season rankings are stupid... they skew the sos, making it easier for those at the top (or with opponents at the top) to stay near the top or move up even if they don't deserve it, and make it harder for those further down to climb up. Shouldn't have rankings until week 3 or so, IMO. The pre-season rankings, which often seems to be based on what a school accomplished many years ago (with a totally different team!) help create early season rankings that are bogus due to someone having played a ridiculously overrated team like Miami.
That said, I feel that last year's usf team should have been ranked higher towards the end of the season than they were, but they were an opponent of UCF (that thorn in the side of the "P5 Invitational" scenario). Gotta keep that pesky G5 team's sos from going up too much, ya know.
Remember, you're not paranoid if they REALLY ARE out to get you.