ATHENS, Ga. - An equal number of tickets are distributed to the competing teams in the Southeastern Conference's annual football championship game, but that doesn't guarantee a 50-50 crowd split for Saturday's anticipated showdown between LSU and Georgia.
Especially given the way Bulldogs fans have repeatedly taken over Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
"We have treated this as an away game," LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. "We had crowd noise on Tuesday and Wednesday and will be very well-prepared for all the Georgia fight songs they'll play."
Georgia's three consecutive SEC East titles under fourth-year coach Kirby Smart have been accompanied by a lot of support. The Bulldogs had nearly half of the crowd in a 20-19 topping of Notre Dame at South Bend early in the 2017 season, and they had more than half the audience for their 54-48 double-overtime outlasting of Oklahoma in that season's Rose Bowl national semifinal.
In between those victories, Georgia suffered a 40-17 defeat at Auburn and then exacted revenge with a 28-7 topping of the Tigers in an SEC championship game that was overrun with Georgia fans.
Georgia also had an overwhelming edge in support against Alabama inside Mercedes-Benz in both the national championship game of the 2017 season and last December's SEC title game, and LSU witnessed the largest visiting crowd in Tiger Stadium history last season when the Bulldogs arrived only to suffer a 36-16 throttling.
"We're kind of going into enemy territory this week," Tigers quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite Joe Burrow said. "They're going to want revenge on us, so we're going to have to be on our game for sure."
The potential for another red-clad building is one of the notable intangibles in Georgia's favor Saturday as the fourth-ranked Bulldogs (11-1) seek to upset the top-ranked Tigers (12-0), and experience in this venue could be another. This is LSU's first trip to the SEC title game since 2011, when it was housed in the Georgia Dome, a structure that no longer exists.
"I don't think it's a big advantage by any means," Smart said. "Their kids have played in a ton of big games, so it's not going to be any different for them or us. We play in the SEC, so we're playing on CBS before the largest crowds in the country."
Said Orgeron: "Those guys have been there before, so I'm sure they think that gives them some confidence, but we have a mature team, and our guys are going to be focused on what we can control. I think we'll be fine."
The series history between Georgia and LSU is one of the more unique in the SEC. The Bulldogs have won 13 conference crowns compared to 11 by the Tigers, but these two programs did not play each other from 1954 to 1977.
There were just eight meetings in the quarter century's worth of seasons from 1978 to 2002, but Saturday's 4 p.m. game that will be televised by CBS will be the 10th Georgia-LSU collision since 2003 and the 10th straight in which both are ranked.
LSU has the explosive offense and is favored by a touchdown, but Georgia has the imposing defense, the crowd and the experience.
"I like having a sense of knowing that we've been here before," Bulldogs senior receiver Tyler Simmons said. "You don't get the same amount of chills. You're more relaxed, and you're more trusting of your training.
"You're just more calm and collected."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.