Chip, MR is right on this one. Playing in a bowl isn't like a typical road game where they can show up whenever they want. The bowl tells the team when it's supposed to arrive in town, and once there, it's about organized events and photo ops and all that stuff. There's a team hotel, and even the practice times and sites are scripted in advance. It's just part of the deal, even if the bowl is down the road from school.
LSU would have a considerable home-crowd advantage in New Orleans, to be sure, but the week-before stuff tends to otherwise minimize the advantages of proximity.