When the media made its picks for both of the SEC’s divisions at SEC media days, the projected standings in the West raised some eyebrows.
Despite defending division champion LSU being the subject of a lot of offseason hype, the media picked Alabama to finish in first place in fairly convincing fashion.
But while that decision may have come as a surprise to some observers, it didn’t surprise SEC Network radio host Paul Finebaum.
“Greg, I understood it on Monday a week ago, and then all the experts started trying to tell me that I didn’t know what I was talking about, and I was wrong,” Finebaum said in an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “That LSU was not only the pick to win the West, but automatic. I look at things differently. I’m not a roster-hound. I try to look at what I know. Use gut instinct. Try to factor in a lot of variables that won’t make a lot of sense on a program like that. And all of this tells me, while LSU is very good, and has made great inroads, just because they beat Alabama last year means absolutely nothing this year. Just because you know, they have skill position players at critical positions, I just wonder if they have enough, and that’s why I never had a doubt about them being the second pick. In fact, I really don’t think it should’ve been that close.
“The biggest factor is the most obvious factor, that the game is in Tuscaloosa, and I don’t see LSU winning it.
Alabama enters the year with a lot more questions than LSU, especially at the quarterback position. But the Crimson Tide have been here before, and that November matchup being in Tuscaloosa will certainly help its cause.
LSU will hope to prove Finebaum and other doubters wrong when the 2023 season kicks off in just over a month.
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