NEW YORK — Alabama will begin this season the way it ended the last two — No. 1.
Nick Saban’s two-time defending national champions are top-ranked in The Associated Press preseason college football poll, with the Crimson Tide trying to become the first team to win three straight national titles.
Much like the BCS championship game against Notre Dame, the vote was an Alabama landslide. The Tide received 58 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel Saturday to easily outdistance No. 2 Ohio State. Alabama matched Florida in 2009 for the highest percentage of first-place votes received in the 63-year history of the preseason rankings.
The Buckeyes received one first-place vote.
Oregon is No. 3, followed by Stanford and Georgia, which received the other first-place vote.
Notre Dame, coming off a 42-14 loss in the BCS championship game to Alabama, is No. 14.
Alabama won its record ninth AP national championship last season, third BCS title in the last four years under Saban, and became the first team to win back-to-back BCS championships.
The Tide is AP preseason No. 1 for the fourth time, and first since 2010. Alabama was ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll each of the last two seasons. The only time Alabama has started and finished No. 1 was 1978, when Bear Bryant led the Crimson Tide to the fourth of its five national championships with him as coach.
Now Saban’s Tide is trying to accomplish something Bear’s boys never could. Twice Alabama won back-to-back championships under Bryant, but couldn’t get the third.
Saban is hoping senior stars such as quarterback AJ McCarron, linebacker C.J. Mosley, defensive end Ed Stinson and guard Anthony Steen have enough memories of what went wrong for the 2010 Alabama team to avoid it happening in 2013.
The Tide’s task: complete the hat trick.
Alabama will also be trying to run the Southeastern Conference’s streak of national championships to eight. For the second straight year, half the top 10 teams to start the season are from the SEC. Joining Alabama and Georgia are South Carolina at No. 6, Texas A&M at No. 7 and Florida at No. 10.
The Tide and Aggies meet Sept. 14 in College Station, Texas. A&M and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel handed Alabama its only loss last year. Whether Manziel will be eligible for the rematch remains in question while the NCAA investigates the Aggies’ quarterback. ESPN has reported Manziel is under investigation for being paid to sign autographs.
No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 Louisville, led by two other Heisman-contender quarterbacks, round out the top 10. Tajh Boyd and Clemson take on Georgia at home in Week 1 and are the favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. Teddy Bridgewater and the Cardinals are the heavy favorites to get back to the BCS for the second straight year out of the newly renamed American Athletic Conference.
McCarron also makes most of the preseason Heisman contender lists. He passed for 2,933 yards and 30 touchdowns with only three interceptions last season. Now in his third season as a starter, McCarron is the face of the Tide.
The second 10 in the preseason rankings starts with No. 11 Florida State. No. 12 LSU gives the SEC six teams in the rankings, more than any other conference. The Big Ten and Pac-12 both have five.
The Big 12 has four teams ranked, all between Nos. 13-20, starting with Oklahoma State. Texas is No. 15, Oklahoma is No. 16 and TCU is No. 20.
Michigan is No. 17 and Big Ten rival Nebraska is No. 18.
Boise State is No. 19, the only team from a BCS non-automatic qualifying conference to make the preseason rankings.
The final five are No. 21 UCLA from the Pac-12; No. 22 Northwestern and No. 23 Wisconsin from the Big Ten; last year’s preseason No. 1 Southern California is No. 24; and Oregon State from the Pac-12 at No. 25
THE AP TOP 25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2012 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and final ranking:
Record Pts Pv
1. Alabama (58) 13-1 1,498 1
2. Ohio St. (1) 12-0 1,365 3
3. Oregon 12-1 1,335 2
4. Stanford 12-2 1,294 7
5. Georgia (1) 12-2 1,249 t5
6. South Carolina 11-2 1,154 8
7. Texas A&M 11-2 1,104 t5
8. Clemson 11-2 1,083 11
9. Louisville 11-2 1,042 13
10. Florida 11-2 894 9
11. Florida St. 12-2 845 10
12. LSU 10-3 802 14
13. Oklahoma St. 8-5 755 NR
14. Notre Dame 12-1 748 4
15. Texas 9-4 677 19
16. Oklahoma 10-3 579 15
17. Michigan 8-5 531 24
18. Nebraska 10-4 382 25
19. Boise St. 11-2 328 18
20. TCU 7-6 323 NR
21. UCLA 9-5 286 NR
22. Northwestern 10-3 199 NR
23. Wisconsin 8-6 185 NR
24. Southern Cal 7-6 134 NR
25. Oregon St. 9-4 129 20
Others receiving votes: Michigan St. 95, Baylor 92, Virginia Tech 86, Miami 85, Arizona St. 53, Kansas St. 43, Fresno St. 36, Vanderbilt 19, Washington 17, N. Illinois 16, Mississippi 11, Utah St. 8, Georgia Tech 6, Arizona 3, Cincinnati 3, North Carolina 3, Penn St. 2, BYU 1.