The truth about unintended consequences.(COLLEGE FOOTBALL)

Read a little blurb a couple of weeks ago about Bob Petrino's denying interest in the Raiders' job. I always chuckle when Petrino's name finds its way into a news story--and it has nothing to do with his being a candidate for every job this side of ambassador to Uruguay.

You see, interest in Bob Petrino begat The Failed Coup (see: A.D., president, private plane, secret interview), which begat the exposure of the utterly incompetent "fans" who run Auburn football, which begat the rise of Tommy Tuberville, one of the hottest coaches in the college game. Proving, yet again, that life has a way of taking twists and turns before arriving at the station.

Case in point: Gary Pinkel. The Missouri coach has failed to reach expectations the past two seasons. He turned Brad Smith, one of the game's most dynamic players, into a skittish mess. A couple of months ago, the Tigers were down 21-0 to South Carolina in the Independence Bowl, and the Gamecocks were set to make it 28-0 before a 99-yard interception return kick-started Missouri's improbable victory.

The victory begat Pinkel saving his job, which begat another year of uncertainty for a program that should be much better than five or six wins a year. Says one Big 12 coach of Mizzou: "It's a jewel for the right guy."

That's life. It forks and flips and eventually finds a spot for you to land.

Case in point: Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione. Lured away from Alabama, one wouldn't think he could have walked into a bigger mess than what he had left in Tuscaloosa. Yet as March brings with it the beginning of spring practice, he is grappling with karma.

The A&M administration has been extremely supportive; it began restructuring Franchione's original deal near the end of his second season in 2004--because, you know, that 11-12 record was so impressive. That begat a $2 million-a-year extension--never mind an embarrassing 38-7 loss to Tennessee in the Cotton Bowl--which begat a 5-6 season, which begat a spot as the No. 3 team in the state of Texas and a show-significant-improvement-or-else 2006 season.