Alabama starts season No. 1
Not surprisingly, Alabama starts off the 2013 season as the No.1-ranked team in the nation.
The Crimson Tide were given the top spot in the Associated Press preseason top 25 poll, which was released Saturday.
Alabama ended last season No. 1 as it won its second straight BCS championship. The Tide will try to win an unprecedented three titles in a row.
Alabama received 58 of 60 first-place votes. Alabama matched Florida in 2009 for the highest percentage of first-place votes in the 63-year history of the preseason rankings.
No. 2 Ohio State received one first-place vote.
Rounding out the top five were No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Georgia, which received the remaining first-place vote.
Alabama defeated Notre Dame 42-14 in the BCS title game for its ninth national championship. Notre Dame starts this season ranked No. 14.
It is the fourth time Alabama has started the season No. 1 and the first since 2010. The Tide are 49-5 in the last four seasons, with three of those defeats coming in 2010.
The Southeastern Conference dominates the top 10. Joining Alabama and Georgia are No. 6 South Carolina, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 10 Florida.
Alabama's only loss last season occured against Texas A&M, which has Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel. The Tide and Aggies meet Sept. 14 at Texas A&M. Manziel is being investigated for accepting money to sign autographs.
Also in the top 10 are No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 Louisville.
Nos. 11-20 include Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Nebraska, Boise State and TCU.
Rounding out the top 25 are UCLA, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Southern California and Oregon State.
The SEC has six teams ranked in all. The Big Ten and Pac-12 each have five. The Big 12 includes four ranked teams.
