LSU sneaked into the AP preseason poll at No. 25.

The Tigers’ stay there could be short-lived as they enter their season opener Sunday as underdogs against No. 8 Miami.

Expectations are relatively modest for LSU. The Tigers are a young team, with just four seniors listed as starters.

But many prognosticators believe LSU’s record could wind up being precariously close to .500 as much for a seemingly brutal schedule as anything else, one that includes Miami, No. 9 Auburn, No. 3 Georgia, No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 1 Alabama, not to mention Florida and Texas A&M.

But what if this schedule isn’t as difficult to navigate on the playing field as it seems on paper?

Every season there are countless examples of teams that wind up being worse than expectations, and others that are better than expectations.

Maybe the preseason studs of August will be considered busts by late November. If so, maybe LSU will be better than predicted.

Maybe.

What if Miami isn’t back to being “The U” all over again? What if that three-game losing streak to finish last season is a better indicator of what this year’s team is going to be than the 10-0 start? What if Malik Rosier isn’t any more consistent than he was last season and wilts under LSU’s defensive pressure?

Well, then, an uplifting season-opening win would be quite possible, and after Southeastern Louisiana comes to Tiger Stadium six days later, the Tigers could roll into Auburn at 2-0 to start SEC play.

Going on the road to start SEC play can be a bear. Remember the 37-7 thrashing at Mississippi State last season? But winning this opener can’t seem any more daunting to LSU than that 20-0 deficit against Auburn seemed last season, and we all know how that turned out.

The perception that this schedule is unusually difficult never was based on back-to-back home games against Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss.

But it was based in large part on consecutive games at Florida and at home against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama in a five-week span.

Okay, there’s no denying that playing both teams from last year’s CFP championship game, which are ranked No. 1 (Alabama) and No. 3 (Georgia), is about as tough as it gets. But, on the other hand, three of the four games are at home, and Florida and Mississippi State both have new head coaches.

Yeah, expectations in Starkville are really high, and the guy most responsible for putting the Bulldogs in that position is the guy working on fixing things at Florida (Dan Mullen).

Nonetheless, a split of these four games is realistic, and a couple of breaks could lead to a 3-1 mark. Well, at least maybe.

Then comes Amen Corner with a trip to Arkansas to face the rebuilding Razorbacks and a much-needed breather against Rice in the home finale.

Finally, this apparent gauntlet concludes with a trip to Texas A&M to face former LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher to wrap up his first regular season in College Station.

The Aggies figure to be much improved under Fisher, and they’ll have to be in order to beat the Tigers, who have won the last seven meetings dating to the 2010 Cotton Bowl.

There’s no doubt this schedule looks unusually challenging even by SEC standards. But looks can be deceiving.

This looming schedule is reminiscent of the one LSU faced in 2011. That Tigers team, like this one, was preparing to open the season in Arlington against a preseason Top 5 team. That one was No. 3 Oregon.

Down the road LSU would face another No. 3 (Arkansas), a No. 2 (Alabama), a No. 12 (Georgia), a No. 16 (West Virginia), a No. 17 (Florida), a No. 19 (Auburn) and a No. 25 (Mississippi State).

How’s that for a brutal schedule?

Eight ranked teams – and eight victories. Average margin of victory: 22 points.

Are these Tigers going to be as good as those Tigers? Probably not.

Are these opponents going to be as good as those opponents? Maybe, maybe not.

That’s why they play the games.