Les Miles wins Dr. Saturday’s inaugural Coaches Bracket Challenge

Les Miles has taken a lot of criticism for his late game strategy, but when it comes to managing an NCAA bracket, Miles, LSU’s football coach, had perfect timing.

Miles won Dr. Saturday’s inaugural Coaches Bracket Challenge thanks to Louisville’s come-from-behind win against Michigan on Monday night.

Miles had trailed Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz then entire tournament, but Holtz picked Indiana to beat Louisville for the championship, giving Miles the Dr. Saturday title. Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy finished third.

Here are the original brackets.

Miles closed the gap with Holtz on the second day of the Sweet 16 when he picked four games correctly. However, Miles took some major hits in the Elite Eight and Final Four and trailed by two points heading into the final game. Miles had to be sweating when Louisville trailed by 13 in the first half Monday night, but a gallant rally at the end of the half and throughout the second half saved the day.

We all should have seen this coming. We know from a very awesome video released last year that Miles is a slow starter but comes on strong at the end.

Holtz would have won had he not declared Indiana the best team in the nation. The Hoosiers bowed out in the Sweet 16 thanks to Syracuse and even though Holtz had Louisville in the final, he needed someone – in this case Michigan – to pull off the upset.

Gundy, who took more chances on random teams than any other coach in the Bracket Challenge, was pretty much out by the end of the Sweet 16, but he also correctly picked Louisville to win the title.

So, that’s it. After three weeks of intense college basketball action, our coaches are back to focusing on football. We want to thank the three coaches who participated and hope they’ll play again next year.

And a special congrats to Miles, who now has braggin’ rights for the rest of the year.

- - -

Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.