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Alabama No. 1 in USA Today Coaches Poll

The Alabama Crimson Tide and coach Nick Saban will go for a third straight national title. (Getty Images)

Alabama and coach Nick Saban will go for a third straight national title. (Getty Images)

Alabama is No. 1 in the preseason USA Today Coaches College Football Poll released Thursday.

The Crimson Tide received 58 first place votes in the poll, and will seek their third consecutive national title this season.

"We appreciate the recognition, but preseason polls don't determine who the best teams will be," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "We aren't entitled to anything, and this team's achievements will be based on what they create with the quality of their play and consistency in performance."

Ohio State is second in the poll, receiving three first place votes, and is followed by Oregon, Stanford and Georgia to round out the top five.

Texas A&M is next at No. 6, followed by South Carolina, Clemson, Louisville and Florida. The Aggies received the other first place vote. Louisville is the lone ranked team from the newly formed American Athletic Conference.

The SEC led the way with six teams in the poll, followed by the Big Ten (5), Pac-12 (5), Big 12 (4) and the ACC (2).