By Matt Smith
SouthernPigskin.com

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Who knows what the fallout would have actually been had Les Miles left for Michigan eight years ago?

As college football enters one of its few slow times of the calendar, were going to briefly veer from the course of reality and take a look at how the sport would have changed had certain events from the past occurred in a different manner.

In this edition, were going to go back to one of college footballs craziest days 3 Dec. 1, 2007. The most notable on-field events were No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia losing, allowing Ohio State and LSU to vault all the way up to the top spots in the final BCS standings.

Off the field, the day began with an ESPN report that LSUs Les Miles would leave the Tigers to return to his alma mater at Michigan. Miles spiritedly debunked those reports in a memorable gameday press conference, and after his cdamn strong football teamd defeated Tennessee in the SEC Championship Game and earned a BCS National Championship Game berth, the story went away.

Despite Miles denials, the ESPN report wasnt that far off. If you read longtime writer and Michigan alumnus John U. Bacons book, Three And Out, which details the Rich Rodriguez era at Michigan, youll learn that Miles to Ann Arbor was all but a done deal prior to Championship Saturday. Buy the book (or bribe me for my copy) to learn the details.

After the ESPN report, the losses by Missouri and West Virginia, LSUs triumph over Tennessee, and the next days BCS Standings release, Miles was off the market, and is now preparing for his 12th season in Baton Rouge.

But what if 2007 wasnt such a topsy-turvy season and West Virginia had taken care of business against 28-point underdog Pittsburgh? Miles trades in his purple and gold for maize and blue.

LSUs next move? The Tigers had one of the hottest coordinators already on staff at that time in Bo Pelini. The supply of active head coaches at that time was weak. Brian Kelly needed another year at Cincinnati to prove himself. Stanford was still beginning its build under Jim Harbaugh. Pelini ultimately took the Nebraska job, but had Miles left, the bet here is that Pelini would have been the next head coach at LSU.

As with any coaching change, even a hypothetical one, theres a trickle-down effect. Nebraska, unable to get Pelini, would turn to Wake Forests Jim Grobe, a year removed from an ACC championship, to resurrect the Cornhuskers. Grobe worked in a mid-2000s ACC when Miami (FL) and Florida State were spiraling downwards, but the rigors of the Big 12, and soon the Big Ten, would have prevented a 8Huskers resurgence under his watch.

As for Miles, he would have inherited a depleted roster at Michigan after a recruiting drop late in the Carr era. His fit at Michigan, being an alumnus, a player under the great Bo Schembechler, and his preference to run the football, would have bought him more time than the three years Rodriguez got. But Miles, without the recruiting base that he had in Louisiana, would have been out within five years.

What about Rodriguez? His days at West Virginia were numbered thanks to friction within the administration. He would have stayed for the 2008 season, star quarterback Pat Whites last, before moving onto the SEC at Tennessee to replace Philip Fulmer.

One thing probably wouldnt have changed. Instead of getting the Tennessee job that would have gone to Rodriguez, Lane Kiffin would have returned to USC in 2009 as an offensive assistant under Pete Carroll, with Trojans offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian having taken the Washington head coaching position that offseason. Kiffin would still have been elevated to head coach a year later after Carroll returned to the NFL, only this time without the turbulent layover in Knoxville.

After nearly a decade, the memories of Miles to Michigan have faded. However, it took a strange turn of events in the strangest of college football seasons to prevent it from happening.

Who knows what the fallout would have actually been had Miles left for Michigan eight years ago? As always, this is my story, and Im sticking to it.