Paul Finebaum wonders if LSU has enough to beat Alabama in 2023

Paul Finebaum isn’t ready to anoint Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers the kings of the SEC West over the Alabama Crimson Tide just yet.

Yes, LSU got the better of Nick Saban‘s squad last season, but Finebaum explained on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning that he’s seeing a different side of the Crimson Tide leader entering 2023.

“Being around Coach Saban on Wednesday, you know you can read too much into him or not read enough, but what I read was a quiet confidence, especially with his unwavering praise of Tommy Rees,” said Finebaum. “Now this is all verbiage, this is all rhetoric, what does it mean? It just meant to me that Alabama deserved to be the pick to win the West, and quite frankly, I think the Tide is in for a very good year.”

Continuing, Greg McElroy wondered if Finebaum understood why the media is seemingly so high on Alabama over LSU entering the 2023 season, and the SEC Network analyst took some time to bask in the glory of his own prediction that’s been proven credible.

“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. 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,” stated Finebaum. “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.

Alas, it’s evident the media agreed with Finebaum for the most part, as Alabama is the preseason pick to win the SEC West coming out of SEC Media Days. Now whether it comes to fruition or not remains to be seen.

Nevertheless, their should be another legendary battle between LSU and Alabama for supremacy in 2023, and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top between them.