Texas A&M just finished the 2020 season with 1 loss and was No. 5 — on the outside looking in — with regards to the final College Football Playoff rankings.

Meanwhile, LSU gets plenty of players back in 2021, including QB Myles Brennan and challenger Max Johnson.

But, during an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Tuesday, SEC Network analyst Roman Harper didn’t name either of those teams as the biggest challengers for Alabama in 2021. He explained why Arkansas and Ole Miss were his picks (via 247Sports):

“I’ve got to go with Arkansas or Ole Miss,” Harper said. “Ole Miss purely because Matt Corral is coming back who’s going to be able to throw six touchdowns versus anybody. He might throw you four picks too, but the guy is must-watch TV along with Lane Kiffin calling plays. Ole Miss is always going to be a scary team. It’s just all about if they can get defensive stops. Are they going to be able to improve on that side of the football? I don’t have any questions about offense, but defensively, Ole Miss has to be better.

“Arkansas is another team who we saw make leaps and bounds last year,” Harper continued. “Can KJ Jefferson be that quarterback that they want him to be? They return the best defensive back in the SEC I think outside of Derek Stingley in Jalen Catalon the safety. I really, really like him as a player. Also, they got a couple weapons at wide receiver with Treylon Burks and Mike Woods. So they got some guys out there that can make plays at Arkansas.

“And they return some seniors that could have gone to the NFL, but decided to use that eligibility, whatever that thing was through COVID that they could come back for an unmarked year for a senior year. So I’m really looking for (linebacker) Bumper Pool and those guys to really try and rally around what they built on last year, so a team like Arkansas to me is a team that could be on the rise.”

The SEC West is always a gauntlet. Alabama navigated it easily in 2020, but challengers are looming in 2021.

Can anyone knock off the Tide? We’ll find out this fall!