That, friends, is a lot of money. More details here and here.

After the “Tuberville-to-Arkansas” frenzy last night, everyone seems to have sobered up a bit. The stories are still pretty crazy, though, what with people tracking plane flights and Jerry Jones possibly backing up his money truck to the table.

Of course, nobody really knows what’s going on, but there are enough conflicting reports flying around that we’re fairly certain that the whole thing is ultimately a negotiating ploy on ol’ Tommy’s part and that, once again, Hog fans will be jilted at the altar by the seductive big name (see: basketball coaching search, spring ‘07).

For a good summary of what’s happened in the past 24 hours, check out the collections of links at the Hawg Blawg and RazorBloggers Network. From an Auburn perspective, our friend Jerry at the Joe Cribbs Car Wash is feeling a bit queasy about the whole thing, and Track ‘Em Tigers has the complete timeline of events.

We’ll keep you posted on new developments as best as we can…if nothing else, the next couple of days should be very interesting.

Arkansas Sports 360 is reporting that “multiple sources” are telling them that Tommy Tuberville is on the verge of accepting an offer to become the next Razorbacks football coach. If so, wow. Stay tuned for more on the subject…

For a fun trip down memory lane, you should head over to Max Brantley’s Arkansas Blog to read a column that the late Orville Henry wrote just after Arkansas hired Houston Nutt. Spoiler alert: He wasn’t a huge fan of the move. Seems to me that Orville could have made his point in about half of his word count, but still, it’s a very interesting read.

It’s funny…living in the Bay Area I never figured that the local news would be a valuable source of info about Arkansas football, but I’ve been proven wrong.

In this week’s edition of his regular podcast, David White, the Raiders beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, discusses the Lane Kiffin-to-Arkansas rumors with Chronicle sports editor Glenn Schwarz. As the guy who covers the Raiders every day, White is in as good a position as anybody to analyze Kiffin’s mindset on the subject…listening to the podcast I was kind of expecting him to dismiss the rumors outright, but he actually seems to be of the opinion that Kiffin is a “college guy” and would definitely be open to leaving the NFL for a college job.

Anyway, they have an intelligent and interesting discussion on the topic for about five minutes. It’s definitely worth a listen. And while you’re investigating what folks in my neck of the woods have to say about all this, check out this column from San Jose Mercury-News columnist Tim Kawakami…it’s a really good analysis of how the rumors have gotten to this point.

Mike Anderson was in the building. The Razorbacks played at a fast pace and scored lots of points - and they walked off the court with an exciting win over a big-name opponent. Sounds like the only way the evening could have been more entertaining is if Nolan had shown up.

Being in Atlanta, I didn’t get to see the game and would love to hear from those that did. There are bound to be numerous growing pains ahead, but it seems like, at long last, we’re in for an exciting basketball season.

If you’re a Razorback blogger, it doesn’t get much more fun than wildly speculating on possible football coaches. Although other sites, particularly the Hog Blogger, are all over this topic more than we could ever hope to be, we just couldn’t stay out of the fray. So, with no regard whatsover to truth, accuracy or anything resembling journalistic standards, here’s our quick (and probably completely incorrect) breakdown of the current candidates (or “candidates”).

The Untouchables:
* Jimmy Johnson - Unless Jimmy can run practices from the Caribbean while sunning himself on the deck of his boat, there is absolutely no possible way this is happening. Still, I keep mentioning his name because it’s a fun rumor to stoke.

* Butch Davis - Nope. To be honest, I’m very fine with that. I never quite saw the appeal of a guy who, over his last five seasons of coaching, went 3-8 with North Carolina and 24-33 with Cleveland. I know some people were seduced by the ‘name’, but I say we dodged an expensive bullet here.

* Tommy Tuberville - Just when it looked like it was time to cross him off this list, his name comes back in play. Maybe. Personally, I think it would be pretty sweet if he wound up with the Hogs but I’m not getting my hopes up…the smart money says he’s angling for a raise and an extension at Auburn.

Head Coaches Maybe Looking to Make a Move:
* Lane Kiffin - When I first read about this one, my natural reaction was to scoff and think “no f’ing way!” But, rumors keep popping up, so who knows. I live in Oakland, and although I barely follow the Raiders, my impressions of him have been positive (despite the Butch Davis-esque 3-8 record). The San Francisco Chronicle had a brief report about the rumor today…also, for a fun read, check out this thread on some Raiders message board about the possibility.

* Mike Leach - Well, the guy certainly knows offense. Ironically, if he winds up with the job fans might be complaining in a few years that we don’t run the ball enough. If you have some time on your hands, check out this very interesting and in-depth profile of Leach and his “thinking man’s” approach to football from the New York Times magazine, written by acclaimed “Moneyball” author Michael Lewis (it’s a couple of years old).

* Chris Peterson - Frankly, I don’t know much about him other than that Boise State pulled out some crazy plays to upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl last year.

* Brian Kelly - I know even less about him, sorry. Hopefully you’re not relying on Razorback Expats to be your sole source of news about the Hogs.

Up & Coming Assistants:
* Bo Pelini - Word is that he’s a better fit for Nebraska. Personally, I can’t get that excited about a guy who allowed the Hogs to roll through his defense for 50 points last week. I mean, I know we have a good running game and all, but come on! That’s not much of an audition. Speaking of good auditions, though, what about this next guy…

* Will Muschamp - His Auburn defense shut down the Hogs more than any other team I’ve seen in the last couple of years. Assuming Tuberville passes, I think we should give him a long look. If he does roll into Fayetteville for an interview, though, let’s hope for his sake that he looks a little less shell-shocked than he does in this video (starting at the 1:10 mark).

* Brent Venables - Again, I have to plead ignorance here (a common theme). The Hog Blogger likes him, so that counts for something.

* Gus Malzahn - Hmmm. Where have I heard this guy’s name before? It definitely rings a bell, but I just can’t place it…

Included for Humor’s Sake Only:
* Coach O - Come on, it’d be fun! An old-fashioned coaching swap between us and Ole Miss. If nothing else, we would wind up with some awesome YouTube videos out of the deal.

The one thing that Razorback fans can agree on these days is that the Cotton Bowl would be a pretty sweet place for Reggie Herring’s debut as (interim) head coach. And thanks to the insanely fantastic win over LSU last week, it’s in our sights.

The only catch? LSU has to beat Tennessee this weekend, says Bob Holt at wholehogsports.com. So, grab your purple and yellow face paint, practice your Cajun accent, and start rooting for the Tigers. Hopefully they can shake off their post-Razorback malaise long enough to take care of the Vols for us.

This Arkansas native returned home to coach the Razorbacks after the football program had fallen into some disrepair under his predecessor. On the strength of one of the country’s most powerful running attacks, he led the Hogs to a string of successful seasons, including a few New Year’s Day bowls. And then, of course, he was run out of town. Too damn conservative, his critics said.

I’m speaking of Ken Hatfield, but the similarities to the current situation are obvious. Let’s hope that today’s path diverges from history, though: post-Hatfield, the football program tailed off severely. After several years of the lackluster (at best) Crowe/Kines/Ford eras, Razorback fans probably would have accepted a few 3rd & 8 draw plays if it meant regularly going to the Cotton Bowl.

So what happens next? Best case scenario is that we get a youngish up & comer who recruits well, has an innovative strategy and brings some fresh energy into the program (realistically, the main appeal of the job to established vets like Butch Davis or Tommy Tuberville is that it can help them wrangle fat contract extensions at their current schools). With that, I could see us winning 7-8 games on average with a breakout 9-10 win season and possible SEC championship run every several years. No shame there.

For the worst case scenario, see the 1990-1997 Razorbacks. Or, if you’re feeling particularly pessimistic, the Ole Miss Rebels during the Coach O years. Either way, it’s certainly not out of the question that fans could be looking back nostalgically at the “dark days” of the Houston Nutt era.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying this out of any particular sadness about what’s happened. I’ve felt for awhile that it would be in the best interest of all involved for Nutt to gracefully move on (although I was pleasantly surprised that, when the end came, it came so smoothly). Houston had his good points and bad ones like most people, but after 10 years, sometimes everyone just needs a fresh start. I just hope that we’ve all learned our lesson from Ken Hatfield…sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.

The developments are flying fast and furious. Wholehogsports.com story here. ESPN.com story here.