[Bamabeachlivin]

It’s a mere 70 days until Alabama and Clemson kick off their 2008 season in the Georgia Dome, and 39 days before the Crimson Tide begins fall practice.

While players are spending their time in 7-on-7 drills and individual and group weight-training sessions, Alabama coach Nick Saban and his staff are hard at work on preparation for the season. But the Tide staff isn’t only focused on the Tigers.
In fact, Saban and his assistants have spent some time on each of Alabama’s 2008 opponents. The Alabama staff actually began its work with another set of Tigers — Auburn.

“I’ve always done it backwards,” Saban said. “You start at the back end (of the schedule) and work forward. So we start the last game of the year, do that, and then keep working forward. So that now, as our (season) gets closer, then we file that stuff away. Then we’re working on the teams that we play first at the end of the summer, so it’s more familiar to us.”

Nevertheless, that game with Clemson looms large. It will be played on national television (ABC) and in front of what surely will be a sold-out crowd.

Most teams — including past ones at Alabama — usually begin their season with a less-formidable opponent. But Saban said he sees obvious benefits from playing what could shape up as one of the top teams in the country.
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[Stoney]

Saban is building on a premise that his team is young and is deferring to Clemson. I wonder what he says in the Tide locker room.