LSU was a not-so-trendy College Football Playoff pick during the preseason with concerns at quarterback and on defense under new coordinator Kevin Steele.

Kirk Herbstreit liked the Tigers, but he was one of the few.

Through the first month of the regular season, Leonard Fournette’s dominance coupled with LSU’s stronghold defensively has turned the Tigers into one of the nation’s more sexier teams and many talking heads are taking notice.

Earlier this week, ESPN college football analyst Trevor Matich revealed his final four picks, a brief glimpse at a handful of programs he thought passed the eye test in September:

Matich’s final four

  1. Ole Miss
  2. LSU
  3. Utah
  4. Michigan State

Noticeably missing from the mix? Defending champion Ohio State.

Off the national radar in August, Utah has wins over Michigan and Oregon during its unbeaten start while the Spartans — widely-considered the Big Ten’s second-best team — have yet to cover this season.

Ole Miss’s No. 3 ranking will be tested Saturday night in The Swamp against the 25th-ranked Gators. Matich points to the Rebels and Tigers as the nation’s two best teams in the early going.

LSU and Ole Miss meet in November for a game that could decide the Western Division. If both teams are still unbeaten at that junction, the loser could actually benefit more as a Playoff at-large.

It should make for an exciting finish in the SEC.