Leave it to Nick Saban to steal LSU’s thunder before a big bowl game yet again.

Just two years and a week after announcing he was leaving the Fighting Tiger football program for the greener pastures of the NFL, Saban announced Wednesday just 10 hours before the Sugar Bowl that he would become the head coach of one of LSU’s biggest rivals — the Alabama Crimson Tide.

We all remember a distracted and somewhat deflated LSU team losing to Iowa in the Capital One Bowl a week after Saban’s first announcement. What effect it had on the Sugar Bowl is debatable, but I can assure you Les Miles will not sit comfortably for some time in his Baton Rouge office.

What this move may do to the SEC over the next few years is immeasurable. LSU and Auburn were reaping the rewards of a stagnant Alabama program, and that certainly will no longer be the case.

This could also send shockwaves into Oxford and Starkville, where Ed Orgeron and Sylvester Croom were making inroads into Alabama that could quickly close if Saban and whatever staff he assembles show the eye for talent they showed during his five seasons in Baton Rouge.

However, there is no question that three SEC coaches — Miles, Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville and Tennessee’s Phil Fulmer — are currently sweating bullets.

Miles has done well in his two seasons since inheriting the LSU reins, but what happens if Saban immediately starts winning in Tuscaloosa? A job that has already seen him face plenty of pressure would get even worse.

Tuberville used former coach Mike Shula as his own personal punching bag over the past four seasons, and took delight in doing so. For a guy who was nearly fired three years ago, beating Alabama heals all wounds. The state of Alabama had pretty much become Tuberville’s in the last two or three years, but the dynamic will certainly shift with Saban in charge.

Fulmer will now have to hurriedly find a way to frame Alabama for more NCAA transgressions if he is to keep the advantage he has enjoyed over the Crimson Tide. He has currently won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the bitter rivals, and helped himself quite a bit by ratting the Tide out to the NCAA in 1999 and 2000. The recruiting wars in Memphis and North Alabama should only get worse with Saban around.

For the short term, Alabama could not have made a better hire. Saban is the perfect fit to deal with the idiots running Alabama’s athletic program.

Long term, this deal may not work out as well. Saban hasn’t exactly shown an ability to make a long-term commitment, having spent five years each at Michigan State and LSU and only two seasons with the Dolphins. Throwing around $4 million a year could do a lot to make a guy stick around, but there’s no telling if Saban could be the next Bear Bryant or the next Dennis Franchione in Tuscaloosa.

Tim Cottrell is the sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached by phone at 601-445-3632 or by e-mail at tim.cottrell@natchezdemocrat.com.