It's hard to get to No. 1, but it's harder to stay there...Talkin' 'bout 'Bama

The Press-Register and al.com are counting down the final days (77) until the first Saturday of the college football season on Sept. 4.Alabama is expected to hold the top spot in The Associated Press preseason college football poll. But is that an honor or an omen?Of the previous 60 preseason polls, just 10 of the top-ranked teams held the No. 1 spot in the final poll, too -- a success rate of about 17 percent.The Crimson Tide is expected to become the 11th SEC team to open at No. 1 in the AP rankings. Two of the previous 10 teams also finished at No. 1, while five failed to stay No. 1 even in the first regular-season poll.Tennessee in 1951 and Alabama in 1978 are the SEC teams that lived up to their preseason ranking by topping the final AP poll as well, but neither of those teams held the top spot for the entire season.Fourteen other SEC teams have won the AP's national championship by ranking No. 1 in the final poll, including Alabama last season.The other SEC teams that topped the AP preseason poll are 1959 LSU (final poll position: third), 1964 Ole Miss (unranked), 1966 Alabama (third), 1984 Auburn (14th), 1994 Florida (seventh), 2001 Florida (third), 2008 Georgia (13th) and 2009 Florida (third).