Alabama will begin this football season where it finished last season – at the top.
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide were the overwhelming No. 1 pick Thursday afternoon when USA Today released its preseason coaches’ poll. Saban, who has guided Alabama to four national championships in the past seven seasons, predictably downplayed expectations following the inaugural practice of August camp.
“Everybody needs to buy into the things that are going to help them play the absolute best football to create an identity for this team,” Saban said in a news conference. “What we’ve done in the past obviously is not going to help us.”
The Crimson Tide received 55 of a possible 64 first-place votes in the poll, easily outdistancing No. 2 Clemson. In January, No. 2 Alabama outlasted Dabo Swinney’s top-ranked Tigers 45-40 to win the championship game of the four-team playoff.
Oklahoma is No. 3 in the coaches’ poll, with Florida State, Ohio State, LSU, Stanford, Michigan, Notre Dame and Tennessee rounding out the top 10. Alabama opens its season Sept. 3 against No. 17 Southern California in the Dallas suburb of Arlington and also faces Ole Miss (No. 12), Tennessee and LSU from the preseason poll.