You don’t have to go back far to find those around LSU football preparing for doomsday. In early October, the Tigers had dropped their first two SEC games and there was real talk about an 0-8 season in the SEC.

Fast-forward a few weeks from that point and you’ll find wild optimists, those who saw a jagged path that LSU could take to the SEC West division title after a three-game winning streak put them right back in the hunt.

Those hopes disappeared during the Tigers’ current tw0-game skid, during which the team hit its nadir in a 17-0 loss to Arkansas. Now, in what looks like Les Miles’ worst season in Baton Rouge, the Tigers are just a mediocre team, fighting for one of the mid-tier SEC bowls.

Given all of that, finding a way to claw to a 4-4 SEC record, and a finish as high as fourth in the brutal SEC West, would be a major accomplishment for this Tigers team, no matter the high expectations around the program.

LSU has certainly not looked like one of the four best teams in the best division in all of college football, but they’re as good as their record says they are. And a 4-4 SEC finish, which could potentially put them on par with Auburn and Ole Miss, two highly ranked teams for much of the season, would say a lot about what this team has accomplished.

Of course, the Tigers still have to get that fourth conference win, and they have to do it against a team that’s a mirror of what you see at LSU. Texas A&M is rebuilding on the fly as well, but they are building from the opposite direction. They already have a potent passing attack, one that’s currently adjusting to life with a freshman quarterback. They don’t run the ball well unless they get ahead in games early, and their defense hasn’t stopped anyone in two months.

What LSU will see when they line up against them on Thursday is something they see in themselves: a team primed to make a huge leap next season if changes implemented this spring work out in the best. A&M will have to rethink a lot of things on the defensive side, while LSU’s coaches have to take a hard look at the offense to figure out what’s gone wrong this year.

With the way things have gone on offense, it’s surprising that LSU even has a chance to finish with as many as 9 wins this season, especially after the possibility of a winless SEC season was less than zero for a while. It shows a resiliency, an uncommon toughness from a group of young players that was summarily written off early in the season and still is being dismissed, to some extent.

LSU fans and players alike expect to contend for national championships. But in a season with no clear-cut answers on offense, beating the odds in the SEC is a solid feat for the Tigers to hang their hats on.