Well they still have to do it on the field, but here's story on the Athletics pre-season rankings as it translate to P-5 programs and how the Huskies are viewed nationally.
"Well if you’re
Virginia Tech, it gets you three wins, nine losses, an offseason of
‘have they hit rock bottom?’ stories and a ranking
two spots behind UConn in The Athletic’s
preseason college football rankings"
"The independent
Huskies also rank ahead of Indiana (94),
Stanford (95), Virginia (96) and
Northwestern (99), and just a few spots below
Colorado (84), West Virginia (83) and Georgia Tech (81). Boston College, which lost to UConn last year and finished 3-9, is in at No. 82. UConn’s jump to No. 86 in these preseason rankings is significant considering the fact that it was tabbed
129th out of 131 teams in FBS by The Athletic coming into last season."