Brian Kelly has long said that one of the reasons he came to the SEC was to compete with and beat Alabama. Now that the standard is Georgia, Kelly on Monday at SEC Media Days was asked where LSU stands with that measuring stick.

“It’s a measurement of, for everybody in here to see it on the field,” Kelly said. “That’s how everybody measures, is the gap closing? What’s the score of the game? What’s the eye test tell you? What’s the competitiveness of that game? We’ll only have that opportunity if we get into the championship game against Georgia.”

It’s trending in that direction, Kelly said, as he added that the roster will eventually be capable of competing with Georgia. Georgia beat LSU 50-30 in last year’s SEC Championship Game.

“I know that based upon how we’ve recruited and how we’ll continue to recruit, that we’ll have a football roster that will be able to compete against Georgia,” Kelly said. “Is that right now? No, it’s not. But if we can continue to do what we’re doing, we’re going to have a roster that can compete against Georgia, and then it’s just a matter of getting it done on the playing field. So everybody then can assess, they closed the gap.”