Finally, the speculation ends. Alabama unveils Year 2 of the Nick Saban era tonight against ninth-ranked Clemson.

The consensus among experts is that the Crimson Tide would like to win this game, but Clemson needs to win it.

The Tigers are heavy favorites to win the ACC crown and return 49 lettermen and 14 starters.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that played and a lot of guys that have come close,” Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden said. “We’ve got some seniors who have won nine games. The thing I want to see is how bad do they want success? I like the guys — like (Mike) Hamlin and (Cullen) Harper, and some juniors who have played. I like the chemistry and the makeup of the team.”

But No. 24 Alabama takes a four-game regular-season losing streak into tonight’s game on ABC (Channel 9 in Lee County). It lists 27 freshman on a 70-man depth chart. Two true freshmen will start — inside linebacker Don’ta Hightower and receiver Julio Jones. Many more will play.

Saban is eager to see how his team responds to the challenge of the game.

“We’re going to find out a lot about who we are,” the coach said, listing the intangibles he’ll be looking for. “Who can lead through adversity? Who can play through adversity? Who can finish? Who can execute regardless of the circumstances in the game? Finish plays? Finish the game? How are you seen as a competitor? What is the identity of the team?”

Answers won’t all come tonight. Both coaches are wary of overemphasizing a nonconference season opener, no matter how appealing.

“The way I figure it, you can win and go 1-11. You can lose and go 11-1,” Saban said. “Obviously, we want to win. I think our players want to win. That’s what we work hard for. That’s what we’re preparing for. It’s really more about finding out who we are and where we’ve got to go to get to where we want to be.”

“It’s a 12-game schedule, and when you talk to the team, you have to keep that in perspective whether you win or lose,” Bowden said. “One game is not very significant if you win or lose. LSU proved that last year with two losses and winning a national championship.

“Monday’s meeting with the team will be awfully important. Is it easier to practice after a win than a loss? Yes. So in that regard it makes winning important.”

This will be Alabama’s first game in the Georgia Dome since the 1999 SEC Championship Game victory over Florida.

“It’s a different environment for all of us,” senior quarterback John Parker Wilson said. “We’ve never played in a dome before, never been to Atlanta to play. It’ll be exciting for all of us. It’s a great opportunity for our team.”

Senior tight end Nick Walker of Brundidge said, “I hope I can play in it now, I hope I can play in in down the road, too. Hope I get the chance to play in it two times.”

That, of course would mean the Tide has won the Western Division.

Alabama has played a ranked opponent in its season opener just once in the past 20 years, 2001 against UCLA.

Clemson has had the Tide’s attention this preseason.

“I think it’s given us a sense of urgency in the offseason,” offensive guard Mike Johnson said. “We don’t have any time to get things wrong. Last year we played Western Carolina. ... I think we had a little bit of a lackadaisical feel through camp. We were like ‘OK, we’ve still got another week.’ This team, we know we’ve got to pull it together right off the bat, or else we’re going to be in trouble.”

Bowden, too, is leery of opening against Alabama because “there’s minimal room for margin of error.”

As for his team’s No. 9 ranking, the Clemson coach shrugged it off.

“It’s kind of like playing with Monopoly money. You’ve got a big stack but it doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “What we’ve challenged our team to do is see if it can create a sense of urgency to defend that ranking. ... How the team responds to that is awfully important but we won’t really know how they’ll respond until they play.”