On December 1, 2007, the Pitt Panthers defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers 13-9 in a game that the Mountaineers should have won handily on their way to play for the BCS Championship.

The ripple affect that followed Pitt’s win has been of a magnitude previously undocumented. Historians will later theorize that the body of Dave Wannstedt was possessed by the soul of Vince Lombardi for an evening.

What If Dave Wannstedt Had Been Dave Wannstedt for a Night?

West Virginia and Rich Rodriguez play Ohio State in the National Championship game. The two weakest BCS conferences go head to head in a competitive game that suggests both teams deserve to be there, quelling the notion that a playoff needs to happen ASAP. University of Georgia President, Michael Adams, doesn’t do an eightball and make the brazen claim to the rest of college football that he’ll be pushing for an eight team playoff.

LSU doesn’t backdoor their way into the National Championship. They play in the Sugar Bowl, and Les Miles takes the Michigan job shortly after the SEC Championship game. Miles and Bo Pellini bolt for the new respective jobs leaving Matt Flynn to player-coach the team against Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, “Varsity Blues” style.

Children across the nation are never scared into wetting their beds from this press conference:

LSU only beats Hawaii by a respectable seven point margin in the Sugar Bowl due to turmoil from coaching changes and general disinterest in playing a team formerly known as the Rainbow Warriors. Colt Brennan’s stock does not drop to second day status for the NFL draft. June Jones still leaves Hawaii for the SMU job because Hawaii’s football facilities resemble a POW camp.

Georgia doesn’t rout Hawaii, but instead beats a team with offensive lineman over 250 lbs. by six points in a lesser bowl. Every sports column/blog in America doesn’t spend the week after the BCS Championship game battling to see who can be the first to orally service the Bulldogs this offseason (knees taken here, here, and here).

Rich Rodriguez stays at West Virginia and doesn’t bring the spread offense to Michigan. Top recruit and pro-style quarterback, Ryan Mallet, never considers transferring from Michigan. Whatever school gets Mallett (Tennessee?, UCLA, maybe?) doesn’t have to go with the limp-wristed starter they projected over the next three years.

Hillary doesn’t come back to win New Hampshire because she is never inspired by the gutty, underdog effort of the Pitt Panthers in their season finale against West Virginia.

Ohio State fans (probably) aren’t on the level of suicide watch they are now. This should pretty much sum up how they’ll be feeling over the next six months:

Moral of the story: Never doubt the power a subpar football team coached by a man with an uncompromising mustache can have on history.

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