Alabama begins the season ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Here a couple of quick takeaways.

  • Alabama plays four teams ranked in the Top 25.
  • Florida State is ranked third, taking a little (not much, but a little) of steam out of the greatest opener of all time.
  • Voters love Ohio State and Southern Cal.
  • Clemson is a little higher than I thought they’d be.
  • A total of six SEC teams appear in the poll.
  • A total of three SEC West and three SEC East.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the poll, which is conducted by college coaches, means “little to nothing about anything.”

“It’s all about how you play when the game comes against the competition that you have to play against,” Saban said. “We’re not going to be in the mood to be making comparisons or making comments on rankings. It’s flattering that people think highly of our team, but our team needs to understand that they need to prove who they are to by what they do, and this means very, very little.”

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