LSU vs. Alabama: Coaching Will Lift Crimson Tide in 2012 BCS Championship

All eyes will be on Alabama and LSU this Monday night for the BCS championship game.

But the two X factors will not be on the field—but on the sideline. Both Nick Saban and Les Miles have established themselves as two of the best coaches in the country. 

Miles has done a fantastic job with the Tigers this season, but Saban is going to do his best Jeff Probst impression and outwit, outlast and outsmart his counterpart to lead the Crimson Tide to their second championship in three years. 

Saban actually did a better job of coaching the first time that these two teams met, but his kicker botched four field goals and LSU was able to walk away with a victory. 

Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com details the similarities between Saban and Miles (specifically, their philosophies and how they run an offense relative to everyone else):

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But LSU and Alabama don't have to use the spread to gain an advantage. While each coach has been known to use a trick play -- Miles especially -- they line up and come right at their opponent, snap after snap.

"When you have advantages in personnel, those are the things you try to do," Miles said the week of LSU-Alabama I, won by the Tigers 9-6 in overtime. "There is not necessarily a necessity to outman your opponent. You can play. It allows you a comfort of play call and fundamental that allows you to execute extremely well. That is probably the similarities between the two teams."

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These two teams are so evenly matched that the only thing that separates them is coaching. Miles is no slouch, but he is not Saban. That is not meant to be a slight towards Miles, either. 

Saban took over an Alabama program in 2007 that had been largely mediocre for most of the decade. He came in and in two years had this team in a BCS game and winning a national championship a year later. 

Miles took over an already-strong LSU program, thanks in large part to Saban in the early 2000s, and has kept them going. 

Saban has had six weeks to prepare for this game, and he will fix all of the mistakes that the Crimson Tide made the first time they played LSU. He is going to call the coaching equivalent of a perfect game and bring the BCS championship back to Tuscaloosa. 

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