Every one of these "prognosticators" remind me of the military planners of the last few centuries, planning for and preparing to fight the LAST war all over again...that never works. Some favorites will begin to find themselves on the "down side" of their success-trajectory and will disappoint, while a "surprise team" or two will arrive at or return to prominence earlier than expected.
Now, Saban himself IS "feigning" humility here, essentially expressing a double negative that amounts to "trying to have it both ways": on the one hand, he doesn't want his team buying into arrogant over-confidence (he isn't stupid, after all--that sets you up to fail), he'd like to temper the fans' always overheated expectations, yet his OWN arrogance and smug superiority once again come to the fore. He's a good coach--and a real pleasure to beat DOWN!
