The college football landscape looks a lot like it did back in January, when Alabama won its fourth national championship in seven years by holding off Clemson in the second title game of the College Football Playoff era.

The Crimson Tide and the Tigers will start this season exactly where they ended up last season — ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the Associated Press poll. But there are plenty of interesting storylines with teams aiming to reshuffle those rankings. Here are five of the most compelling ones to follow as the season kicks off.

1. Is this the best Oklahoma team ever?

The Sooners made the CFP semifinals last season behind quarterback Baker Mayfield, who finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in his first season as a starter. He’s back and, after being named a preseason All-American by Bleacher Report, he appears poised to pilot an offense that could border on unstoppable. Oklahoma also returns running back Samaj Perine, who owns the NCAA single-game rushing record and stands less than 1,100 yards away from becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher.

The Sooners will be trying to buck a troubling trend: They’ve begun the season ranked in the AP’s top five nine times, and they’ve failed to end the season ranked higher than where they started each time. A Sept. 17 primetime home game against Ohio State should tell us a lot about the Sooners’ chances of returning to the playoff.

2. Can Alabama repeat?

An unsettled quarterback situation, combined with a mass departure of talent to the NFL, would seem to suggest that the answer is no. But offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin has demonstrated that he can keep the offense rolling with anyone under center (see: Coker, Jake and Sims, Blake). But with Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry gone early to the NFL, the Crimson Tide’s running backs are young and untested. Plus, there are road games at LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

It speaks volumes about the talent on the roster that Alabama is still starting the season as a favorite to defend its national title, something that hasn’t happened since — surprise — the Crimson Tide pulled off the feat in 2012.

3. Are two quarterbacks better than one at Notre Dame?

Coach Brian Kelly told the Goshen, Indiana News that both DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire will see time under center in the Sept. 4 season opener at Texas. Kizer, a redshirt sophomore, and Zaire, a redshirt junior, have been locked in competition since the start of spring practice, with neither definitively laying claim to the job, according the coaching staff.

The unanswered questions at quarterback shouldn’t keep the Irish from at least making a run at bettering last season’s 10-3 record, which included last-second losses on the road to Clemson and Stanford. A talented, deep corps of running backs and a veteran offensive line should keep the offense clicking until an untested group of receivers has time to develop.

But there are just enough land mines on the schedule — besides the opener against the Longhorns, Notre Dame also has road tests against NC State and USC and home matchups with Michigan State and Stanford — that at least two losses and a spot on the CFP bubble are likely again for the Irish.

4. How wide open is the Big Ten?

The Big Ten will go to a nine-game conference schedule this year, which in theory might hurt the league’s chances of sending a team to the College Football Playoff. But the league’s East Division — with defending conference champ Michigan State, perennial power Ohio State and up-and-coming Michigan — figures to continue its dominance over the West (Iowa’s 12-0 regular season last year notwithstanding).

The Spartans — despite losing first team All-Big Ten quarterback Connor Cook — get the Wolverines and the Buckeyes at home, which may give them a slight edge for the inside track to return to the conference championship game. In the West, the Hawkeyes return second team all-conference quarterback C.J. Beathard and an experienced stable of running backs, but they’ll have to hold off stiff challenges from Nebraska — which lost five games last year by five points or less — and Minnesota, who many observers are picking as a dark horse threat.

5. Could a non-Power Five team crash the playoff?

It’s not likely, but Houston — fresh off a 13-1 season and a resounding Peach Bowl win over Florida State — may have a solid case for joining the CFP if it’s able to run the table with a schedule that includes non-conference home games against Oklahoma and Louisville. The Cougars, under former Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman, also reeled in what many experts consider to be the best recruiting class among non-Power Five schools.