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.
"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."