Silly me. I had thought we were moving on from the rumors surrounding Mike Anderson.
To catch you up, last week reports emerged that Anderson, Mizzou's head coach, would be headed to Arkansas to be the next Razorbacks head coach. Anderson responded to those reports following Mizzou's 2011 NCAA tournament loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats saying he's a Missouri Tiger.
However, the reports, including one from Mike Irwin of 5 News in Arkansas, continued to say Anderson would head to Arkansas. In fact, Irwin reported numbers on the offer Arkansas AD Jeff Long was preparing to make -- five years at $2 million per year.
And then a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday said Mizzou was prepared to give Anderson a two-year extension along with a raise that would pay him $2 million annually. That seemed to slow down the speculation quite a bit and strongly suggested Anderson would remain at Mizzou.
But that hasn't stopped 5 News in Arkansas to continue to say Anderson is coming to Arkansas. Irwin writes on Tuesday that Anderson is still "likely to be named" the Arkansas head coach.
Sources say there has been no direct contact between Anderson and anyone representing the University of Arkansas. Those sources believe that Arkansas is prepared to offer Anderson the job but must first get permission from the University of Missouri to speak with Anderson.
See, here's the interesting part. Irwin writes Arkansas is "..prepared to offer Anderson the job..." But on Monday, Irwin wrote, Arkansas AD Jeff Long "...had offered Anderson a five year deal at two million dollars annually and is holding firm to that offer..." Anderson's agent, Jimmy Sexton, can do the talking without violating Anderson's contract but Irwin's report appear to be saying two different things.
So Arkansas has offered him the job...unless they haven't.