LSU will have a lot of variables in play when the No. 5 Tigers begin Year II of the Brian Kelly era Sunday night in Orlando, Florida, against No. 8 Florida State.

It’s the top game of a festive opening weekend, the lone matchup between top-10 teams, right on schedule as the college football world begs for real games in place of the realignment rumors and scuttlebutt that dominated a confusing, topsy-turvy offseason.

The winner should automatically throw its helmet into the ring as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. The loser will have time to make amends in their Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference travails.

The No. 5 Tigers come in loaded with high expectations, both from within the program and amidst the always-rabid fan base. The national view seems to agree.

LSU also has the revenge angle thanks to the Seminoles’ 24-23 victory a year ago, which ended on a blocked extra point to open last season in the Tigers’ own backyard at the Superdome.

That was a sloppy affair, but both teams went on to better things with 10-win seasons and bowl victories in the same stadium they’ll play in Sunday.

“We’re almost mirror images of each other,” Kelly said this past week.

Which is to say, mirror opposites of the teams that muddled through what was a sloppy Seminoles win a year ago.

The NCAA transfer portal, which Kelly said he doesn’t like, has again stepped up to help replenish a Tigers team that also has the luxury of having most of its playmakers returning.

What the Tigers won’t have is any excuses.

Just the opposite, if you subscribe to Kelly’s bulletin board material.

“There are still some areas that need to be improved,” he said Thursday night. “We’re going to take 15 freshmen on this trip and 14 transfers … That’s not a disclaimer of any kind. We’re going to go beat the heck out of Florida State.”

Hmmmmm.

It was a little different a year ago when the Kelly era was just getting its sea legs, with a quarterback in Jayden Daniels finding his way through an offense he was unfamiliar with.

Kelly wasn’t sure what he had at this time last year and was spending as much time changing the culture in Baton Rouge as the depth chart.

Nowadays Daniels is occasionally mentioned in Heisman Trophy talk — as is Florida State’s Jordan Travis, another elusive, dual-threat quarterback.

Daniels has most of his favorite weapons back — Malik Nabors highlights a deep and pesky wide receiver room, which could let Daniels spread the wealth enough to where he won’t again lead the team in rushing as well as passing.

LSU won’t have star defensive tackle Maason Smith, who’s sitting out a one-game NCAA suspension.

But the Tigers’ most dynamic defender, linebacker Harold Perkins, didn’t even play in last year’s game as he was a true freshman and still in the fledgling stages of becoming one of the nation’s most exciting players.

Kelly said he feels good about it.

“It’s only going to get better as we continue to develop the program,” he said in the same breath that predicted doom for the Seminoles. “It’s pretty exciting from my perspective that where we sit here, going into Year II, the future is pretty bright. If I was buying a stock, I would buy some LSU football stock.”