If only we knew then what we know now.

We wouldn’t have been quite as impressed with LSU’s schedule back in August if we had known what their opponents would turn into by mid-November.

The Tigers have moved all the way from No. 25 in the preseason poll to No. 7 in the most recent CFP rankings.

They’ve had a fine season and their strength of schedule has rightly worked in their favor. But that schedule hasn’t been quite as strong as we thought it would be when we were analyzing it during preseason camp.

August expectations and November realities rarely jive and if we knew in August what we know now our expectations of LSU’s schedule would have been different.

In fact, with the benefit of hindsight, a preseason story on the Tigers’ schedule might have read something like this …

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LSU faces a challenging schedule, as all SEC teams do, but other than Georgia rotating on as the non-permanent opponent from the SEC East, this schedule doesn’t seem unusually difficult.

Sept. 3 – Miami

Sure this is one of the marquee matchups of the opening weekend because of its prime time slot on Sunday and the history of the two programs.

But the Hurricanes are going to be an also-ran in the ACC and they’ll struggle to get bowl eligible at the end. If the Tigers don’t win this by at least two touchdowns it could be a bad sign.

Sept. 9 – Southeastern Louisiana

This is merely a sparring match against a below-average FCS team in preparation for the start of SEC play.

Sept. 16 – Auburn

Most road games in the SEC are dangerous, but these Tigers are going to struggle to be .500 in the conference and Gus Malzahn will spend a good portion of the season wondering about his future. LSU can’t afford to slip up here.

Sept. 23 – Louisiana Tech

The Bulldogs are a nice non-Power 5 team that presents more of a challenge than most nonconference foes. But the Tigers should be OK here.

Sept. 30 – Ole Miss

Yeah, it’s LSU’s most bitter conference rival, but it’s also a team that will struggle to win a pair of SEC games.

Oct. 6 – Florida

This will be the first real test after a pretty easy September. Dan Mullen’s going to need some time to get the Gators back in the SEC title hunt, but this trip to The Swamp will be a very dangerous one for a team with big-time aspirations.

Oct. 13 – Georgia

It’s tough adding the defending East division champion and national runner-up to any SEC schedule. But this might not be as bad as it seems at first. The Bulldogs will basically be untested by the time they get to Tiger Stadium.

Oct. 20 – Mississippi State

State is a threat, but LSU will remember the whipping it took last year in Starkville and that will make a difference.

Nov. 3 – Alabama

The Crimson Tide aren’t sure who their starting quarterback will be. Will Nick Saban officially switch to championship game hero Tua Tagovailoa, or will he stick with the veteran Jalen Hurts, who got the Tide to two consecutive national title games? They have won seven in a row in the series and they’ll probably roll into Tiger Stadium ranked No. 1. But the Tigers have taken them to the wire at home in recent seasons and maybe they’ll do it again. Or maybe not.

Nov. 10 – Arkansas

Even an Alabama hangover hasn’t been enough for the Razorbacks to pull the upset in recent years and it won’t be this year either.

Nov. 17 – Rice

The Owls will be lucky to have one win when they arrive in Tiger Stadium and they won’t leave with any more.

Nov. 24 – Texas A&M

The Aggies will be better under Jimbo Fisher, but he’s going to need time to recruit them into a power. It will be an up-and-down first season, but A&M might be the biggest challenge for the Tigers after Alabama and Georgia. It could be dicey for LSU to try and wrap up a big-time bowl by winning in College Station.