The Crimson Tide enters the season in the top-3 for the sixth consecutive year
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Associated Press released its annual preseason poll for college football on Sunday and named Alabama the preseason No. 3 team. The ranking marks the sixth consecutive year the Crimson Tide is amongst the top-3 teams in the nation heading into the new season.
Alabama returns 12 starters from last season’s team that finished 12-2 and reached the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the semifinal round of college football’s first ever playoff. The Tide has claimed three of the last six national championships and owns an 84-11 record across the last seven seasons under head coach Nick Saban.
Ohio State claimed the top spot in the poll as the unanimous No. 1 team, while TCU enters the 2015 season as the No. 2 overall team. The SEC placed eight teams in the top 25 with four of those squads ranking in the top-15.
The Crimson Tide will face seven teams ranked in the top-25 poll, including Auburn (6), Georgia (9), LSU (14), Ole Miss (17), Arkansas (18), Wisconsin (20) and Tennessee (25). Alabama opens its 2015 season on Sept. 5 in Arlington, Texas, as the Tide squares off with the 20th-ranked Badgers in the annual AdvoCare Classic inside AT&T Stadium. The matchup is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CT start on ABC with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Heather Cox on the call.
