Who is the darkhorse to win the SEC West in 2016?

I know, it sounds like a trick question, given that Alabama hasn’t been reassigned to the SEC East.

It’s the Tide’s division to lose. They own the SEC West and have leased it just three times since Nick Saban changed the locks in 2008.

Ole Miss will be a worthy challenger, but the Rebels are hardly a darkhorse. Chad Kelly could become the first QB in SEC history to throw for 4,000 yards twice in a career — and Ole Miss has beaten Alabama each of the past two seasons.

There are two definitive darkhorse candidates in 2016 — LSU and Auburn. That sentence almost sounds ridiculous, considering both have won national championships since Saban came back to the conference.

Yet both stumbled in 2015, leaving plenty of room for questions entering 2016.

Of the two, LSU has the best chance to win the SEC West, Booger McFarland be damned.

The primary reason begins and ends with Leonard Fournette, who again will take the driver’s seat in the race to New York for the 2016 Heisman ceremony.

In 12 games last season — three fewer than Derrick Henry — Fournette eclipsed Herschel Walker’s longtime SEC record and came within 47 yards of joining Henry as the only 2,000-yard rushers in conference history.

But there are other reasons to like the Tigers’ chances.

They get Alabama at home this season, after an open date, and no doubt a well-rested Fournette will be eager to avenge his 31-yard performance that cost him the 2015 Heisman.

They get Ole Miss at home this season, and no doubt DBU will be eager to avenge the 3-TD performance Kelly dropped on them in Oxford last season.

They return as much skill talent as anybody in the country — and added to that with a recruiting class that ranked No. 3 nationally. After being crushed by early departures for much of the past five years, just about everybody who was anybody in 2015 is back in 2016.

And, perhaps most important, they return coach Les Miles, who has to open up the offense and let strong-armed Brandon Harris take shots down the field to playmakers Travin Dural and Malachi Dupre. Has to.

LSU opened 2015 ranked No. 14. After two games, the Tigers rose to No. 8 and received a first-place vote. They were No. 2, behind Clemson, when they played Alabama.

Everything unraveled that night and it steamrolled into a three-game losing streak that very nearly cost Miles his job.

But 2016 offers a chance to reset. Miles is back. So are his most talented players.

Alabama still owns the penthouse suite in the SEC West, but LSU will be banging on the door in 2016.