Generally, I don’t subscribe much to rankings, especially early in the season. Like others have said, the Top 5-10 teams are often interchangeable and the ranks do tend to be used as promotional tools.
That said, after everything this team, this coach and these players have had to deal with recently from the NCAA on down, getting the #1 ranking in spite of it all, to me, is a giant middle finger to the whole establishment. And I hope we wave that finger high and proud and as close to the smug face of the machinery as humanly possible.
Kudos, boys! Now put the foot down firmly onto the neck and slowly apply the pressure.