Phil Steele is out with his annual college football preview magazine and making the rounds on radio stations around the country.

One of those is WJOX in Birmingham, Alabama where he was on the “McElroy and Cubelic In the morning” show. He was asked how many teams can realistically win the national championship. Cole Cubelic said his number is fairly small, while Greg McElroy’s is fairly large.

“I’d probably be more toward the larger area,” he said. “As we saw last year, a team like TCU coming out of nowhere getting to the title game, granted, they got blown out in the title game, but they still beat Michigan, showing that they could do that on a weekly basis. I don’t think there’s a team like TCU that could do it, but I think a Georgia, a Clemson, a Michigan, an Alabama, an Ohio State, Penn State if things go right for them this year, or USC. Florida State has the talent level, LSU, Notre Dame. I think all those teams are capable.”

Steele added that he’s “bullish” on Clemson, perhaps more than other media types, and cited a conversation with Dabo Swinney about the defensive line. FSU is also a legitimate contender.

Steele added that Penn State is “really close” to the Michigan and Ohio State pedestal and considered a “legitimate contender.”

In the Pac-12, Steele picked USC because he likes the transfers added and the improved defense.

In the SEC, Steele has Alabama winning the SEC West, but noted a sneaky tough game is at Texas A&M. The Aggies are the No. 2 surprise team in the country for Steele behind Wisconsin.