Paul Finebaum has noticed Auburn’s hot start, with wins over Alabama State by a 62-0 score, and Akron, 60-10.

He was asked during his regular weekly visit on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on WJOX in Birmingham, Alabama about which team is the second-best team in the SEC West so far this season.

“If you base it on what we’ve seen so far, which I think is what you’re asking me, it looks like it could be Auburn,” Finebaum said. “Now that is not a fair representation because they have played better than anyone else, but I seriously doubt they’ll end up that way. … I think Texas A&M will still be there at the end, but right now, they are playing rather poorly.”

Auburn will see the degree of difficulty dramatically jump this week when the Tigers travel to Penn State for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on ABC in a game that will have ESPN’s “College GameDay” on site, and the Nittany Lions have already pegged as a “white out” game.

That should go a long way to seeing how the new Bryan Harsin era goes, and how it measures up to the first 2 weeks on The Plains.