Paul Finebaum breaks down the SEC West implications in Alabama-Texas A&M game

The SEC West division’s only two undefeated teams in conference play will square off this weekend as Alabama will take on Texas A&M in College Station.

There’s plenty of history between the two programs, and they’ve delivered some exciting matchups in recent memory between Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban and his former assistant and Aggies’ head coach Jimbo Fisher. But the stakes in this matchup are a little bit higher early in the season, so much so that analyst Greg McElroy asked Paul Finebaum if this game will decided who wins SEC West title on ‘McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning‘.

“I think for Alabama it’s the game to give them breathing room,” Finebaum said. “But I still think there are too many other factors here, and I know that this may sound crazy with LSU, but I am not counting them out completely although it would be more fashionable to do that today.”

LSU suffered their first conference loss of the season over the weekend losing in a high scoring shootout with Ole Miss, and although the outcome of Saturday’s game will establish the divisional front-runner, Finebaum sees it as an opportunity to create some separation between themselves and the rest of the pack.

“But I think for Alabama to win here that means you’ve got a head-to-head [win] against Ole Miss, head-to-head against A&M, and I think that puts them from a percentage standpoint in great shape,” Finebaum said.

A Texas A&M win on Saturday would be huge for the Aggies, but they would still have a lot of work to do as their two current conference wins are over Auburn and Arkansas teams that have not yet won an SEC game yet this season and have already fallen behind in the standings. And it as it currently stands, a win for the Crimson Tide would just put even more of an emphasis on their matchup against LSU in the first weekend of November.

Last year’s matchup between Alabama and Texas A&M came down to the wire, as the Crimson Tide pulled out a 24-20 win after stopping the Aggies offense on their own two-yard line in the final play of the game.

The matchup also represented the first career start for Alabama’s current starting quarterback Jalen Milroe, who played for an injured Bryce Young and delivered three touchdown passes in Alabama’s victory. And it will be intriguing to see if he can deliver again for the Crimson Tide as they look to create some separation in the competitive SEC West.