LSU football owns one of the best home-field advantages in college football. The Tigers have outperformed the betting spread by 1.2 points per game in Tiger Stadium since 2003. That's the best mark of any SEC team in that span.
In that same span, LSU is one of just four power conference teams to win 50% or more of its games as a home underdog. Tiger Stadium has been good to LSU.
Unfortunately, not every game can be played in Baton Rouge. LSU has to do some traveling, sometimes to places that have a hostile home environment of their own. LSU fell victim to Texas A&M and Florida on the road in packed stadiums last fall.
LSU will have five road trips on its 2025 schedule, including the season opener at Clemson. Today, we'll rank LSU's road tests by level of difficulty. This isn't just a ranking of the loudest stadiums where LSU will play -- quality of opponent matters too.
Here's a ranking of the toughest road games on LSU football's 2025 schedule.
5. Vanderbilt (Oct. 18)
LSU will head to Nashville on the third Saturday in October. The Tigers have gotten familiar with Nashville in recent years, making trips in 2019 and 2020. This will be LSU's fourth meeting with Vandy in the last seven years -- that's a lot for programs that were in separate divisions.
Vanderbilt took a step under Clark Lea, a former Brian Kelly assistant, in 2024. The Commodores beat Alabama in Nashville and later punched a ticket to a bowl game. Transfer QB Diego Pavia took the conference by storm and is back for another year.
Vandy presents a challenge, but LSU took care of business vs. the Commodores in 2024. Vanderbilt's home-field advantage isn't enough to close the talent gap.
4. Ole Miss (Sep. 27)
There's an argument for this one to be higher. LSU hasn't won at Vaught-Hemingway stadium since 2019. Lane Kiffin got the best of Ed Orgeron in 2021 and won a shootout vs. Brian Kelly in 2023.
Kiffin elevated Ole Miss to one of the SEC's most consistent programs. The Rebels are yet to contend for a conference title, but there's now a level of sustained success in Oxford. They've missed that for some time.
Ole Miss is losing a chunk of talent from its 2024 squad. The Rebels hit the portal again, but it's hard to strike gold two years in a row when relying on transfers. Ole Miss won't be a finished product by the end of September and Vaught-Hemingway doesn't add much from a noise perspective. This game is tough but manageable.
3. Clemson (Aug. 30)
LSU opens the 2025 schedule with a trip to Clemson. The Tigers will look to get past the week one boogeyman that's got the best of LSU every season dating back to 2020. The last time LSU won a season opener, Joe Burrow was throwing touchdowns to Ja'Marr Chase.
Both Clemson and LSU have their eyes on the playoff. Clemson lost in the first round in 2024, but returns a significant amount of production, especially on offense. QB Cade Klubnik along with a talented group of wideouts project to form one of the best offenses in the country.
Clemson and LSU both refer to their stadiums as "Death Valley."
Both fan bases will tell you their stadium is the "real Death Valley."
Clemson will be a slight favorite and is 90-5 when ...
