Three-Peat?

Tuscaloosa,AL - It was a big day for Alabama fans today. The University announced that head coach Aaron Jones was in fact returning for another season. Jones had the following to say, 'I am in fact returning for the 2014 season. I turned down a 6 year extension, it's not out of the realm of possibility that I would reconsider at the end of this season, it was just not the right time to pull the trigger on that kind of deal. Also, the multiple reports this offseason were in fact true, I was offered and in fact interviewed for the open positions at Texas and Michigan. After weighing all of my options, I did decide that Tuscaloosa was still the best spot for me to be. I also want to take this time to announce that we have concluded our recruiting for the season and have again landed the number one class according to Scout.com and ESPN.com.'

Alabama is once again the preseason number one team in the country, no real surprise considering they are coming off of back-to-back national titles and three straight top rated recruiting classes. Although they have a bit of a dip in overall talent, projecting out to have a meager 5 first round draft picks as opposed to 2 seasons ago when they had a dozen. This team is however loaded with young talent. There are a handful of upperclassmen slated to start the season, the rest of the depth chart is littered with exceptionally talented freshmen and sophomores. 'I feel that although we may be a bit weaker overall than years past, the future of the Alabama program has perhaps never been brighter. We have freshman and sophomores on this team that will struggle to see the field in their career here that have NFL talent. It's a nice problem to have, I can assure you of that.' said Jones.

The SEC is on the upswing this season following a few years of placing only 3 teams in the final top 25 polls. Bama, LSU, Auburn, Florida and Georgia are all ranked in the top 15 with Ole Miss and Tennessee just outside of the top 25. 'The conference has certainly jumped in talent over the last few years. We'll have to bring our absolute best gameplan each Saturday in order to survive the gauntlet that awaits us.' Jones commented at the SEC media day.

Alabama puts their 2 year unbeaten streak on the line against SEC foe Ole Miss to open the season and have tough road games at Auburn and at LSU. 'We look forward to the challenge. We've been at the top for two years now and I'm sure the rest of the SEC are licking their chops to get a crack at us. We'll be ready.'