Conference championships and the final regular season games are finally here and yet only one team has secured its spot in the national championship game, that being Notre Dame. While the winner of the SEC title game between Alabama and Georgia is projected to face off with the Fighting Irish come January, the BCS bowl picture remains wide open. Let’s take a look at some of the headlines around the country.

• Louisville will join the Atlantic Coast Conference come 2014. The Big East — Louisville’s current conference — currently has a $10 million exit fee and institutions must give 27 months notice, however the Cardinals will likely pay a higher exit fee to bypass the almost two-and-half year notice of departure. The Big East conference has seen seven of its schools bolt for the ACC, including six
football universities.

• After being offered a reported five-year, $27.5 million contract from Arkansas, LSU head coach Les Miles has decided to remain in Baton Rouge. LSU gave Miles a raise and a two-
year extension.

• Head coaches are being fired left and right as of late, which opens the door for rumors upon rumors. It has been reported that Louisville’s Charlie Strong interviewed for Auburn’s head coaching position after the Tigers let go of Gene Chizik. Tennessee has a similar void after cutting ties with Derek Dooley, leading some to speculate current ESPN analyst Jon Gruden, a former graduate assistant there, is heading to Knoxville. However, Gruden has denied any reports linking him to the Volunteers.

• Former Colorado head coach Bill McCartney says the firing of head coach Jon Embree after just two seasons was racist. On a radio program earlier this week McCartney said, “I believe black men have less opportunity, shorter time if you will. It’s just like, (former coach) Dan Hawkins got five full years. Why not give Jon Embree five years? You signed him to a five-year contract.” Colorado went (1-11) this season and failed to win a home game for the first time since 1920.

• Tulsa’s athletic director Ross Parmley has been placed on paid administrative leave while he is being investigated for gambling accusations. Parmley has been tied to Teddy Mitchell who has been charged with running a fraudulent gambling operation out of Oklahoma City.

• An Alabama jeweler offered customers full refunds on their purchases, along with keeping the items, if either Alabama or Auburn were shutout last weekend. The Crimson Tide won 49-0, prompting over 300 customers to return to the store for their money.

• When Notre Dame and USC met up last Saturday night in Los Angeles the game became the most watched college football game since the 2006 matchup between No. 2 Michigan and No. 1 Ohio State. ABC recorded a 10.3 rating, which means 10.3 percent of all households in the major television markets across the nation had the game on. The game out-rated the second-most watched game this season, Alabama versus LSU, by 3.3 percent.