Paul Finebaum puts LSU back in the conversation as SEC's best team after Week 3

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Malik Nabers on LSU improving timing offensively

LSU knows how to bounce back. The program certainly has Paul Finebaum’s attention. During an appearance on “The Matt Barrie Show” on Sunday, Finebaum commented on whether he believes LSU is the best team in the SEC after Week 3.

“I think you have to, especially in the [SEC] West. I’m holding onto Georgia [in the SEC East],” Finebaum said. “The good thing about the [SEC] West is that the conference losses haven’t happened yet, meaning A&M lost, LSU lost, even Arkansas lost.”

Thus, LSU is in no worse of a spot than any other SEC West team. After all, the Tigers didn’t fall at the hands of a slouch. LSU lost its season opener 45-24 to current No. 4 Florida State. LSU has won its two games since by an average of 49.5 points.

The Tigers’ most recent blowout victory came against Mississippi State on Saturday. In the lopsided 41-14 triumph, LSU recorded 531 total yards, more than doubling MSU’s total. More importantly, LSU was efficient in its dominance.

Tigers QB Jayden Daniels completed 30 of his 34 pass attempts while picking up 9.9 yards per pass. Further, LSU committed zero turnovers in the win; a massive improvement from the Tigers’ two turnovers in their loss against Florida State.

LSU has a long way to go

While Finebaum believes LSU is beginning to slip ahead the rest of the SEC West, he knows anything is possible.

“It is a confusing league,” Finebaum said. “By the way, hey, the critics can go have at it. I mean, so what? The SEC has been at the epicenter of college football for so long and you can’t match this any longer.”

Finebaum isn’t the only one who has noticed a difference in LSU. After the team’s win over MSU on Saturday, head coach Brian Kelly broke down his team’s performance.

“Our guys really handled themselves with great poise in a very difficult environment early on to play in,” Kelly told ESPN’s Katie George. “When you’re playing on the road in the SEC, you have to come with a competitive edge that obviously we didn’t have in our opener. And these guys have learned that. There’s a lot of young players that are figuring out how to play. Proud of the way they played today.”

LSU will have a chance to show its SEC dominance again very soon. On Saturday, the Tigers will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.