NEW ORLEANS — Maybe it is the way he shows his emotions on the sideline.

One minute Les Miles will be laughing out loud at the success of a trick play and the next looking like he might blow a fuse over a blown assignment.

Maybe it is because you never know what is going to come out of his mouth when he is speaking to the media.

Maybe it is because he’ll pull the trigger on a trick play faster than Wyatt Earp on a bank robber.

Miles has been available all week and has met all his requirements as the head coach of LSU, which will play for the BCS national championship tonight against Ohio State.

Oh, and for the record, this is the second time in a row the Buckeyes have faced the SEC champions for the Sears Trophy.

This is Miles’ first championship game as coach of the Tigers. When they won it here four years ago against Oklahoma, Miles was the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

So Miles has played the part required, but some seem to come away with a different picture of him after dealing with him up close and personal.

A couple of fries short of a Happy Meal.

A few ounces short of a quart.

A couple of bricks shy a load.

You get the picture ?

Some have come away thinking Miles, who actually did have a cyst removed from his brain in 2001, is not too smart. That the LSU baseball cap he loves to wear has been cinched as tight as possible. Well, to those who think he is a quart low, let it be known the man is 33-6 in three years at LSU. That doesn’t mean he can figure rocket thrust to the moon, but that’s not what he is paid to do.

Miles is paid to educate kids and win football games.

He is paid $ 2. 9 million every year, and that will jump to $ 3. 5 million if he wins tonight.

Just getting here with two losses, both in triple overtime (against Kentucky and Arkansas ), was tricky enough to leave the Bayou Bengals tagged as a team of destiny.

If West Virginia wins its conference game, the Tigers would have been making their second consecutive appearance in the Sugar Bowl. Last year, they beat Notre Dame 41-14.

They are playing in the home of the Sugar Bowl, but this is the big one, the BCS jewel, and while it took some good fortune, Miles made some luck, too.

In October, the Tigers trailed Florida by 10, and this is how they scored their 28 points: The first came on fourth-andgoal from the 1. The second came after a fake field goal on fourth-and-6 when quarterback / holder Matt Flynn got 7 yards.

The third was a 4-yard touchdown pass on fourth and 3. With just a little more than a minute left, the Tigers converted not one fourth-and-1, but two. A field goal would have tied the game in Death Valley. After going 5 for 5 on fourth downs (and they were 6 for 6 on the season at that point ), Miles started being labeled an offensive genius. Up until then, he was just the guy with the ball cap who was winning with Nick Saban’s players.

Probably his biggest test as a head coach came the week after the 50-48 loss to Arkansas.

While he was trying to get his players focused on their original goal of winning the SEC, reports started being aired that he was going to Michigan.

The day of the SEC Championship Game, he had to have a quickly assembled press conference to reiterate he was happy and at home in Baton Rouge.

LSU beat Tennessee 21-14, Michigan eventually hired Rich Rodriguez, and tonight, the guy who is supposed to be a few mental inches short of a yard will face Ohio State for the BCS championship.

Dumb ?

Not hardly.