LSU vs. Alabama: Will Les Miles Prove He's the Best Coach in College Football?

When Nick Saban took the head coaching job at Alabama back before the 2007 season, there was a ton of fanfare and attention paid to the hire.

That’s to be expected when a school with the history and prestige of Alabama brings in a coach of the caliber of Nick Saban, who left the college game as the king of college coaches after winning the national championship with LSU back in the 2003 season.

Saban’s return was one of the most talked about college coaching moves in decades, and it didn’t take long for him to return to the top of the college football mountain.

In just his third season in Tuscaloosa, Saban managed to guide the Tide to an undefeated season, an SEC championship and, most importantly, a BCS national championship.

After Saban hoisted his second crystal trophy, the debate pretty much ceased about who the best coach in college football truly was.

It’s a badge of honor that Saban has worn proudly these past two seasons; but now there’s a coach out there who is out to steal that title, and it just so happens to be the man who Saban will square off with down in New Orleans in the BCS National Championship Game.

This year, LSU’s Les Miles, the coach who replaced Saban in Baton Rouge after that championship season, has managed to shed his reputation as simply just a wacky gambler. And he’s now gained the respect of the college football world, after guiding the Tigers to an undefeated season, an SEC championship and a berth in the national championship game.

This isn’t the first time that Miles has led his team to the big game. He did the same thing back in 2007, when he won the national championship in just his third year at the helm.

But this is the first time he’s managed to do it with “his guys,” so to speak

The knock on Miles for the first few years he was at LSU was that he was simply living off the past success that Saban had at the school, and that he was reaping the benefits of Saban’s great recruiting classes.

But the players that Saban brought to LSU are long gone, and now Miles has shown that he’s on par with his predecessor in terms of finding success on both the field and the recruiting trail.

Miles has kept the winning culture going in Baton Rouge, and he’s managed to put his own unique stamp on the program.

Now the question is, if Miles can beat Saban in the national championship game on Jan. 9, will he then steal away Saban's title as the best coach in college football?

The score would then be even at 2-2 in terms of national championships, and it only takes one look at the two coaches' past resumes to realize that there would definitely be a legitimate argument to be made.

Saban has accumulated an overall career record of 145-54-1 during his stops at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama, while Miles has built up a 103-38 record during stops at Oklahoma State and LSU.

I’m not the most mathematically gifted person in the world, but my calculator tells me that’s a 73 percent winning percentage for both coaches.

You can’t get any more even than that.

So if Miles can beat Saban for the second time this season, with college football’s ultimate prize on the line, it will be fair to at least start asking the question that Alabama fans definitely don't want to hear.

Is Les Miles the best coach in college football?