Transcript of Alabama football coach Nick Saban talking Michigan at SEC media days

The Alabama coach addressed reporters at SEC media days in Hoover, Ala., and was asked about his team's Sept. 1 opener against Michigan in Arlington, Texas. Here's a full transcript of what he had to say about the matchup:

"We've had a lot of national exposure that has really enhanced the development of our program, especially in the early years, by playing neutral-site games against very good national competition, whether it was Florida State in Jacksonville our first year, Clemson in Atlanta, or Virginia Tech in Atlanta, Penn State home and home the last couple years. Now having the opportunity to go play Michigan in Dallas, and we're going to come back to Atlanta and play Virginia Tech and West Virginia in the next two years. These are the kind of games we look for for national exposure.

"I think playing a great opponent like Michigan the first game of the season really enhances your players' sort of work ethic and preparation in the off-season because they know they're going to play a top-notch team right off the bat, and that's very challenging. That's kind of been the reasoning behind it.

"It's worked out well for us. But we know that Michigan is going to have an outstanding team and it will be a very challenging game for us this year."