It’s gets a lot of pub this time of year, but this is the season that LSU’s Tiger Stadium gets a chance to prove its worth, to live up to its reputation and put its swagger where its decibels are.

The old place, which will be celebrating a century of LSU football this season, often gets mentioned during this “Talking Season” when the subject is Toughest Venues for Opponents or Best Game Night Atmospheres (game day, maybe not so much).

But with all these lists, no matter how you word them, Tiger Stadium generally ranks at the top of the charts or thereabouts.

This would be a good season to prove it.

Keep in mind, the reputation of Tiger Stadium is pretty much based on having an opponent that LSU fans care about and respect— better yet, one they are a tad uneasy about the outcome.

You can generally tell in advance, in the parking lot, when the buzz is on.

And it can be electric for sure. Everything you imagined and more.

But I often get a kick out of it when some coach from, say, a Group of Five or FCS conference starts talking about the death trap his team will be facing when his poor lads walk into the huge shop of horrors where your skin tingles and you can’t hear yourself think over the smell of the whiskey.

Sorry, coach. Don’t kid yourself. You’re not that important. You won’t get the full Tiger Stadium treatment. You’re welcome to try to annoy the Tigers and their fans — and, for sure, it has happened — but all it does is get the locals to booing their own team. Your team is safe.

It generally takes a Southeastern Conference opponent or a ranked Power Five for Tiger Stadium to really be Tiger Stadium.

And it will have ample opportunity to back it up in this new beginning for the expanded SEC. In fact, the whole season might rest in how Tiger Stadium lives up to its aura.

Just look at LSU’s schedule.

I’ll help you out.

There’s the neutral-site game against Southern Cal in Las Vegas, which ought to be a ton of fun.

After that, it says here, the Tigers’ three toughest games will all be home games.

That’s a plus. In his first two years at LSU, head coach Brian Kelly has lost one home game.

Anyway, I’m calling the three hardest games this season as Alabama, Ole Miss and Oklahoma, all at home.

Maybe Texas A&M (on the road) should be third. Too early to tell.

But on the odd chance that the SEC preseason media poll knew what it was doing — and it usually does not — Oklahoma was predicted to be No. 8 in the league and Texas A&M No. 9.

So there’s that.

Vanderbilt, you’re LSU’s fourth conference home game, but you can feel free to sit out this discussion. No hard feelings, but haven’t you got some studying to do?

Along with A&M the other three SEC road games are at Florida, South Carolina and Arkansas, which certainly sounds doable.

However the SEC schedule-makers came up with this slate, whatever the formula was, LSU should send them a thank you note.

There’s no guarantees.

Oklahoma, suddenly force-fed as the regular season-ending “rivalry” game, has never played in Tiger Stadium. Ole Miss has been coming to Baton Rouge since 1894 and to Tiger Stadium since 1926, so the Rebels know their way around the place. Alabama, well, LSU’s last-minute win two years ago notwithstanding, the Tide think Tiger Stadium is their own personal time-share condo and has felt comfortable breaking up the good furniture over the years.

In fact, LSU historically has had more success against Bama on the road than at home.

But, all things considered, you’d rather have your toughest games at home.

It also doesn’t hurt that the predicted top two teams, Georgia and Texas, aren’t on the schedule anywhere.

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Scooter Hobbs covers LSU athletics. Email him at scooter.hobbs@americanpress.com