LSU and WVU May Have Never Met, Yet Their Histories Are Forever Intertwined

Saturday Night in Death Valley will mark the first ever contest between the LSU Tigers and the West Virginia Mountaineers.  The two programs may be meeting for the first time, but the night of December 1, 2007 will forever link the two programs in College Football lore.

December 1, 2007 was the day set to finally determine which teams would play for the BCS national Championship in what was the wildest college football season in recent memory.  During the 2007 season, the #1 and #2 ranked teams suffered defeat on the same weekend 3 times.  Twice a moment when the #1 ranked team suffered defeat came at the expense of the #1 ranked LSU Tigers, who lost to #17 Kentucky 43-37 on October 1st, and again to unranked Arkansas 50-48 on November 23. 

The loss to an unranked Arkansas team that late in the season seem to all but ruin the Tigers chances to ascend to the national championship game even with a victory over the #12 ranked Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Championship, as the Missouri Tigers, West Virginia Mountaineers, and Ohio State Buckeyes all led the Tigers in the BCS standings.  The Missouri Tigers were the most likely to lose as they faced the #9 Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game.  The Mountaineers seemed certain victors as they faced the (4-7) Pittsburgh Panthers, and the Ohio State Buckeyes were idle.

The morning of December 1st began as controversial as the entire college football season had been, as ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit announced that sources close to the University of Michigan had stated that LSU Head Coach Les Miles, had accepted the vacant Head Coaching Position at Michigan.  Speculation became so rampant, it led Miles to call a pregame press conference to announce that he was staying as the head coach at LSU concluding with the now infamous line "Have a great day".

LSU went on to defeat the Volunteers 21-14 with second string quarterback Ryan Perriloux under center.  The Tigers spent the remainder of the day watching the chips fall in order to decide which New Orleans bowl game they would play, the Sugar Bowl or the BCS National Championship.  That is, except for Les Miles, who signed a lucrative contract extension, which many Tiger fans now seem to regret.

The chips fell in LSU's favor, as Missouri fell to Oklahoma 38-17, and the Mountaineers were shocked by Pittsburgh 13-9.  The end result sent LSU as the #2 ranked team to face the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Tigers then went on to defeat the Buckeyes 38-24 in what seemed like a home game, and become the first ever 2 loss BCS Champion, and the (then) only team to win the BCS Championship, twice. 

As for the Mountaineers, Head Coach Rich Rodriguez unceremoniously became the new Head Coach at Michigan, even before the Mountaineers upcoming Fiesta Bowl appearance against the Oklahoma Sooners.  The Mountaineers went on to defeat the Sooners 48-28, prompting the West Virginia Athletic Director to reward interim Head Coach Bill Stewart the permanent position on national television.

On September 25, 2010, Bill Stewart leads his #22 Mountaineers into Death Valley to face the #15 LSU Tigers for their first ever meeting.  The fates of the programs have changed, but both programs can only wonder what could have been if the tide had turned on that Saturday December 1st.