This past college football season, the Alabama Crimson Tide and coach Nick Saban cemented their dynasty of the past decade by winning the program’s fourth national title in seven years. Having produced dozens of NFL players within the same time period, the Tide has proven to be the golden standard of success in modern college football. However, Alabama is not alone at the top, as this upcoming season will prove to provide plenty of worthy challengers and opponents to the dynasty of the south.

Within Alabama’s own conference, the Southeastern Conference, there are five preseason top 25 teams in the Coaches Poll. Leading the charge in the attempt to claim the SEC title from the Crimson Tide are their heated rivals, the LSU Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers.

Led by Leonard Fournette, a Heisman trophy candidate and the potential number one overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft, the Tigers will look to snap a five-game losing streak to the Tide.

The Tennessee Volunteers enter the season as one of the most-hyped teams in the nation, lead by quarterback Joshua Dobbs and many returning starters on both offense and defense. The Tide and Volunteers will face off at Neyland Stadium in the historic “Third Saturday In October” rivalry on the 15th of October.

Not to be outdone, the Ole Miss Rebels will look to be a thorn in Alabama’s side yet again. Ole Miss is only team in the nation to beat the Crimson Tide each of the past two years.

Up north, the Big Ten Conference is led by its two most prominent members, the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes, who also happen to have arguably the best rivalry in college football. Led by the lightning rod of a coach, Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines will look to build on last year’s success and the preseason hype, hoping it can translate into a national title run.

Ohio State, on the other hand, is no stranger to competing at the highest level, having made it to both of the first two college football playoffs,  and famously winning the inaugural playoffs with 3rd string quarterback Cardale Jones. With  Urban Meyer at the helm, the Buckeyes will expect nothing short of another national title.

The SEC’s counterpart conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, appears it will produce two of the nation’s best teams this upcoming year: The Clemson Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles. The Tigers will look to build off last year’s title game appearance as the Seminoles will look to return to the college football playoffs after missing out last year.

Out west in the PAC 12 and Big 12, the charge is lead by two of college football’s historic powerhouses, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Stanford Cardinal. The Sooners return many members of one of the most high-octane offenses from last year, and look to prove they are back for a round two in the playoffs. The Cardinal are led by do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey as they look to capitalize on the momentum they finished last year with and turn it into victories this year.

All in all, this upcoming college football season will prove to be one of the most exciting in recent history as Alabama will look to continue its modern day dynasty,while teams from all across the country look to dethrone the Tide from the top.