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Alabama and the Southeastern Conference are trying to climb back atop the college football mountain.

The SEC was toppled— at least temporarily — from that summit by the Atlantic Coast Conference last season. A powerhouse Crimson Tide team has a much shorter climb back after a down-to-thelast-breath loss to the ACC's Clemson in the national championship game .

'Bama has won 17 consecutive SEC games by an average of 21 points but coach Nick Saban insists "there's a lot of parity in our league."

Despite Saban's perspective, there's no debating that the battle for No. 2 has been more heated than the competition for the top spot the past few seasons. Exhibit A: Alabama's 54-16 win over Florida in the last SEC championship game.

Alabama remains the decisive favorite to win a fourth consecutive SEC title despite losing four first-round NFL draft picks. No team has won the league four times in a row — or three for that matter before the Tide's run — since Steve Spurrier and Florida dominated from 1993-96.

The first test might just be Alabama's biggest of the regular season. The Tide opens with another ACC power, Florida State, in Atlanta's new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

"All the guys that did play in that (Clemson) game are really hungry to get back out there and play and show the world that we are one of the top teams in the nation," 'Bama receiver Calvin Ridley said.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts, the

Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama. Versatile defender could