The Auburn Tigers fired Gus Malzahn this offseason, replacing him with former Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin.

As the Tigers prepare for Year 1 under Harsin, they’re not expected to challenge for the SEC West title. In fact, many don’t expect them to finish in the top 3 in the division.

So, what does SEC Network host Paul Finebaum think of Auburn’s chances? He joined “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on WJOX on Monday morning to say he thinks the Tigers can exceed expectations and finish with 7-8 wins this fall:

“I think they can exceed expectations a little bit,” Finebaum said. “I know sometimes it’s hard to get out of our head what has happened in the past, but I don’t see this as a 10-win Auburn team. I think 7-8 wins, somewhere in that range is my goal. And I do agree with things that you’ve talked about here many, many times in that they do have rare individual talent that I think can help get them through some tweener games where the line is pick ’em or 1 or 2 or 3 either way. I don’t like the schedule very much, though. I think that Penn State game puts them at a terrible disadvantage in that spot. However, there’s opportunity there for them to do some really great things. I think it will be a difficult first season for Bryan Harsin.”

Auburn gets its season started on Saturday with a home game against Akron. We’ll see how the Tigers look in that matchup.