The 2016 regular season hasn't come to an end yet, but we've already seen two of the nation's biggest schools fire their coaches and hire their replacements. You would think that job openings at places like LSU and Texas could be giant dominoes that have a major impact at other schools all across the country once they fall, but that really wasn't the case.

In fact, it was all just a bit too easy.

LSU (reportedly!) went after Florida State's Jimbo Fisher and Houston's Tom Herman, and when it was rebuffed by both, decided to stick with interim coach Ed Orgeron. Texas also wanted Herman, and it was successful in convincing him to head a couple hours west to Austin.

While it all seems so simple and clean now, that doesn't mean what Texas did won't have a butterfly effect across the country, even if it takes some time for the ripples to reach their destinations.

Because now that Herman is no longer at Houston, and Houston is in the market for a new coach, it has become the most interesting job opening in the country.

Houston is that rare Group of Five school that could actually lure a coach at a Power Five school away.

Ordinarily that would be unthinkable. Power Five schools are prestige jobs that tend to pay more than a Group of Five school, but that's not exactly the case with Houston, which has plenty of other desirable traits besides a healthy paycheck.

West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen and California's Sonny Dykes have both been mentioned as possibilities at Houston, and I don't think it's just foolish message board fodder. I believe both of those coaches would seriously consider leaving their current gigs for Houston.

There are a few reasons why.

1. Money: Houston has invested in its facilities over the past few years because it wanted to put together a top program, and you need money to do that. Now, Houston had been hoping all the paper it put into the program would help the school land a spot in the Big 12, but that hasn't happened yet.

It hasn't just invested in facilities, though, it has invested in its coach. Herman was making $3 million in 2016, and Houston was prepared to pony up more dough to keep him, but in the end it wasn't enough to keep Herman from leaving for Austin. Well, Houston still has that money available if it finds a coach it deems worthy of making it.

Now compare Herman's $3 million salary to those of Holgorsen and Dykes. According to the USA Today salary database, Holgo is making $2.98 million at West Virginia this season, while Dykes is being paid $2.908 million by Cal. The difference isn't huge, but if Houston is willing to bump it up to $3.5 million annually, that could be enough.

Plus, in Holgorsen's case, he hasn't been able to land the contract extension he has been hoping for at West Virginia, and he has plenty of experience coaching in the state of Texas (including two seasons at Houston).

2. Recruiting: Population wise, Houston is the fourth-largest market in the country. With population trends, there's a strong chance it will soon surpass Chicago to become the third, trailing only New York and Los Angeles in the amount of people that call the area home.

And you know what comes with large populations?

A lot of good football players, particularly when that population is in a state as crazy for football as Texas. Houston has always been a hotbed for high school talent, and that's going to be attractive to any coach, particularly one who is currently in a location that might not have the same kind of advantages.

3. It can lead to an even better gig: Let's take a look at Houston's past three coaches, shall we? There was Art Briles, who turned the Houston gig into the Baylor job. Briles was then replaced by Kevin Sumlin, who spent a few seasons with the Cougars before heading just down the road to Texas A&M. Now there's Herman, who turned two years in H-Town into the Texas job.

In other words, if you're successful at Houston -- and the past three coaches all have been -- you could move on to even bigger and better things. Now, admittedly, this may not be as important to coaches like Holgorsen or Dykes because they already have Power Five gigs, but it's still something worth noting.

4. It could still be a Power Five school one day: Just because the Big 12 decided against expansion this year doesn't mean it won't explore the idea again any time soon. While it may have been presented as a unanimous decision, it sure took the conference a long time to make a decision every school agreed on, didn't it?

Those are all reasons why Houston will be an attractive job to anybody it considers, and they are the reasons why coaches like Holgorsen or Dykes would give serious consideration to leave their current Power Five gigs for it. Should they do that, it would really get the coaching carousel spinning.

No offense to Baylor or Purdue, but unless the Oregon job comes open, Houston is the most interesting job opening on the market right now. It also just might be the most attractive.

Referee Conspiracy Theory of the Week

What? You thought Michigan fans were just going to accept their fate after what happened in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday? Well, some have. Some are ready to take the loss and move on, knowing that they'll never really know whether J.T. Barrett actually got that first down or not, but the refs decided he did, and it helped Ohio State win the game.

Others have not. Others are convinced that the refs had it out for Michigan the entire time, and that they cost the Wolverines that game.

I'm not going to mock them for it, either. I don't agree with them or anything, but I do get where they're coming from. When you care as much about something as a lot of these fans do, and your team loses such a close game after what was such a close call, it's a natural reaction to lash out at the people you deem most responsible for that call: the officials.

So, I get it. I think it's silly and misguided, but I get it. At the end of the day, though, a football game that close doesn't just come down to one moment. Had Wilton Speight not thrown two interceptions -- including a pick-six -- then the game never gets to overtime and Michigan wins. Had Ohio State kicker Tyler Durbin, who hadn't missed a kick inside of 40 yards all season long, not missed two field-goal attempts inside 40 yards during regulation, the game never gets to overtime and Ohio State wins.

And as for the controversial first down call itself, I have no idea whether J.T. Barrett actually got the first down. I saw the same television angles and replay angles that you did, and none of them proved anything definitively. So you don't know whether he got it or not, either, you just know what you want to believe to be the case.

Box Score of the Week

Lost in all the Ohio State and Michigan insanity on Saturday was a record-setting game between Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Pitt beat Syracuse 76-61, an FBS record for most points ever scored in a single game.

Seriously, there have been basketball games between these old rivals that didn't feature as many points. In fact, Syracuse outscored its own basketball team on Saturday, as it lost its first game of the season 64-50 against South Carolina.

Anyway, you know that a game with 137 points scored in it is going to have an insane box score, and this one certainly wasn't an exception.

Syracuse ran 106 plays! Honestly, though, I think the craziest part of this box score is that somehow, some way, a game that featured 137 points, 58 first downs, and 1,312 yards of offense also found the time to include nine punts. That has to be some kind of miracle.

Happy Coach of the Week

Derek Mason is feeling good after pulling off the upset and beating Tennessee on Saturday night.

Derek Mason is pumped up pic.twitter.com/twzycURMbE — Deadspin (@Deadspin) November 27, 2016

Vanderbilt is not an easy job, but Mason's teams have improved their win total the past two seasons and I can see why. I mean, based on the dancing and the interview he gave on the field after the win, I was ready to run through a wall for the man. I can only imagine how his players feel about him.

Broken Headset of the Week

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So we can't have a happy coach without an angry one.

Angry Jim Harbaugh pic.twitter.com/zAef8PtcWM — Steve Noah (@Steve_OS) November 26, 2016

That poor headset. It deserved better.

HELLO THIS IS A PRIVATE FREQUENCY FOR ME AND MY FRIENDS PLEASE SWITCH TO ANOTHER CHANNEL pic.twitter.com/vYPT9A1Z3S — Chip Patterson (@Chip_Patterson) November 26, 2016

Photo of the Week

Yeah, we're sticking in Columbus for this one. This photo was taken the moment Ohio State's Curtis Samuel crossed the goal line for the winning touchdown in overtime -- and it's perfect.

Curtis Samuel dominated double overtime for Ohio State. USATSI

If you look closely you can see the referees high-fiving. OK, so I couldn't get through the whole column without mocking the Michigan conspiracy theorists. Sue me.

Random Ranking of the Week

Let's rank pizza toppings.

1. Sausage

2. Pepperoni

3. Black olives

4. Banana peppers

5. Garlic

All rankings are final!

Stat of the Week

Nobody scored a touchdown on Alabama in November. — Michael Casagrande (@ByCasagrande) November 27, 2016

That is a real stat. Alabama played four games in November, and did not allow a touchdown in any of them. It gave up 18 points total, 12 of which were scored by Auburn on Saturday.

Just give it the trophy now, people.

Double Doink of the Week

This is the greatest field goal of all time.

How can this be worth only three points? We need a rule that would make this worth 10.

Team of the Week

A lot of teams won a lot of big games last week, but I'm giving this award to the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Miami beat Ball State 21-20 on Tuesday night, completing a remarkable turnaround to its season. The RedHawks began the year 0-6, and then won their final six games to get to 6-6 and become bowl eligible. They're the first team in FBS history to ever do that.

That's awesome.

Upset Call of the Week

Florida over Alabama! Haha, no, I'm just kidding.

The options are somewhat limited this week since there aren't nearly as many games, and to be honest, there isn't really an "upset" out there that I like a whole lot, but there must be an Upset Call in the Upset Call of the Week.

So this week's upset is ...

Virginia Tech over Clemson in the ACC Championship Game!

Let's be honest with ourselves. We all know there's a part of the committee hoping either Washington or Clemson lose this week to make including Ohio State in the College Football Playoff a lot easier. So the Hokies do them a favor and shock the world.

Tweet of the Week

Just because you've left college doesn't mean college has left you. Just ask Cardale Jones.

College Football Playoff Projection of the Week

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Washington

Until the next Monday After!