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No. 1 Alabama going for perfect 10 Saban opener vs. USC

FILE - At left, in an Oct. 31, 2015, file photo, Southern California head coach Clay Helton gestures before the start of their NCAA college football game against California, in Berkeley. At right, in an Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, Alabama coach Nick Saban gestures during practice in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In some cases, regardless of the quality of the competition, the names alone scream big-time college football game. Alabama vs. USC. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP, File)
FILE - At left, in an Oct. 31, 2015, file photo, Southern California head coach Clay Helton gestures before the start of their NCAA college football game against California, in Berkeley. At right, in an Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, Alabama coach Nick Saban gestures during practice in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In some cases, regardless of the quality of the competition, the names alone scream big-time college football game. Alabama vs. USC. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP, File) FILE - At left, in an Oct. 31, 2015, file photo, Southern California head coach Clay Helton gestures before the start of their NCAA college football game against California, in Berkeley. At right, in an Aug. 9, 2016, file photo, Alabama coach Nick Saban gestures during practice in Tuscaloosa, Ala. In some cases, regardless of the quality of the competition, the names alone scream big-time college football game. Alabama vs. USC. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP, File)

By Associated Press 4 min read

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Top-ranked Alabama has never lost an opener under Nick Saban. And the Crimson Tide’s last two national championships, including a season ago, started at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

Maybe Crimson Tide fans should go ahead and make plans for Tampa in January for the next College Football Playoff title game. Many of them probably already have even before the start of Saban’s 10th season.

Alabama opens Saturday night at AT&T Stadium against 20th-ranked Southern California, which is facing an SEC team for the first time in 10 years.

It is the seventh of Saban’s openers to be played in a neutral site against team from another Power Five conference – the Tide have won all of those first six at least double figures. That includes beating Michigan in 2012 and Wisconsin last September in the stadium where they also won the CFP semifinal in the Cotton Bowl last New Year’s Eve.

“Well, I’d rather play here in Tuscaloosa,” Saban said this week on campus. “The issue is getting people to play you in Tuscaloosa that are quality opponents, and then when you do home-and-home. That means next year we’d have to play in California. So next year we wouldn’t make any money, this year we would. This is a business decision but it’s also a program decision in the tremendous amount of exposure, when you play a quality opponent like USC.”