them somewhat relevant.

Here are how the early 21-25 rankings played out by the end of last year:

Preseason: Oregon finished unranked. 3 finished in the top 11. Boise finished 23rd.
Week 2: 3 finished unranked. 1 top 10 and 1 top 15 finish each.
Week 3: All 5 finished unranked.
Week 4: 4 of 5 finished unranked (including BYU). 1 top 20 finish.
Week 5: All 5 finished unranked
Week 6: 4 of 5 finished unranked. 1 top 10 finish
Week 7: 3 of 5 finished unranked. 1 top 20 finish. 1 top 25 finish.
Week 8: 4 of 5 finished unranked. 1 top 10 finish
Week 9: All 5 finished unranked (including Utah)
Week 10: 4 of 5 finished unranked. 1 top 20 finish
Week 11: 3 of 5 finished unranked. 1 top 20 finish. 1 top 25 finish
Week 12: 3 of 5 finished unranked (including Utah). 2 top 25 finishes
Week 13: 3 of 5 finished unranked. 1 top 20 finish. 1 top 25 finish
Week 14: 1 of 5 finished unranked. 3 top 20 finishes. 1 top 25 finish
Week 15: 2 of 5 finished unranked. 2 top 20 finishes. 1 top 25 finish

Teams that were ranked in that range but didn't finish ranked:

Oregon, Miami, South Carolina, USC, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Boston College, BYU, Duke, Mississippi State, Cal, Texas Tech, Colorado, NC State, Virginia Tech, Auburn, South Florida, Wisconsin, Utah, Stanford, Appalachian State, Syracuse, Virginia, Iowa State, Pittsburgh and Missouri.

By conference,

ACC: 8 teams
PAC-12: 7 teams
SEC: 4 teams
Big 12: 3 teams
Big Ten: 2 teams
Indy: 1 team
G5: 2 teams