40 Acres Sports

Follow along live with 40 Acres Sports on Twitter and below for our thoughts and analysis during today’s big hoops match-up on CBS. We’ll be live right around tipoff for Texas versus [tag]Connecticut[/tag] so join us to discuss the game at 3:00pm Saturday afternoon.

Things might be a little less wordy than normal, but please feel free to leave comments and questions using the live tool, but not all comments will be published. Read below for more notes on comments and how the live blog will work. Hook ’em!

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Former Texas wide receiver/flex tight end Dan Buckner has found a new home. After the Texas coaching staff and Buckner decided to part ways due to his arrest last week, word came out yesterday that Dan will be transferring to Arizona. He is already enrolled and will participate in spring drills, but due to NCAA transfer rules he will sit out the 2010 season.

The Darius White highlights, commit, and interview start at about 3:26 in the video:

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy sits down with ESPN to talk about his shoulder injury, how he’s recovering from the mental aspect of missing the biggest game of his life, and his future in the NFL…

Football player or track star? How about both?

Little more than a week after the BCS Championship Game, Texas wide receiver [tag]Marquise Goodwin[/tag] is already receiving track & field honors. This week, the Big 12 named him the Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Male Athlete of the Week:

In his first collegiate meet, Goodwin notched two provisional qualifying times and two titles at the Arkansas Dual meet. The freshman clocked a 6.69 in the 60-meters and posted a mark of 7.72 meters (25-4 ft.) in the long jump. Both marks currently rank third in the nation.

Goodwin, who snagged 3 passes for 70 yards in the title game versus [tag]Alabama[/tag], is expected to be one of the Longhorns’ top wide receivers for the 2010 season.

Link: Goodwin, Pinder and Lucas Named Big 12 Track Athletes of the Week

It was the first time since 1983 that a team from the state of Texas hosted a basketball game as the #1 team in the country, and until overtime it looked like it would be a while before it happened again. The top ranked Texas Longhorns were taken to the buzzer by the Texas A&M Aggies Saturday evening before the Horns finally pulled away in overtime 72 – 67. After only 3 points in the first half, senior All-American candidate [tag]Damion James[/tag] put the team on his back and dominated with 23 points in the second half and overtime. His big 3-pointer and and then game ending block of an Aggie 3-pointer in OT finished off the thrilling victory.

Some brief highlights and thoughts on the game from ESPN are below…

Next up for the Horns are back-to-back road games against top 15 opponents. They’ll face #12 [tag]Kansas State[/tag] Monday night on ESPN and then travel to play #15 [tag]Connecticut[/tag] on Saturday on CBS.

Well it’s official. Maybe. Texas coach [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] has finally released an official statement. From the Dallas Morning News…

Muschamp clarified his intentions Wednesday night.

“I’m happy at Texas and plan to be here for a long time,” Muschamp said through a Texas football spokesman.

He added that he has not interviewed for any other jobs nor does he have intention to do so.

While Muschamp did not address any specific rumors or schools, his name has surfaced most recently at Tennessee after Lane Kiffin was hired at Southern California.

Previous Muschamp to Tennessee updates

• From this morning… Tennessee offers head coaching position to Will Muschamp?
• Say what now? Muschamp flies to Knoxville, meets with Tennessee

Defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will follow Mack Brown as next Texas head coach. Right?

It’s been a wild day.

This morning everyone’s sources within UT were 100% confident that Texas defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] wasn’t going anywhere. That was the story for most of the day. Orangebloods, Inside Texas, and the Statesman all spoke to multiple sources in the am and there appeared to be no issue, no smoke, and no chance the Horns would lose their big name coordinator.

But the official confirmation never came.

As the day wore on it became more and more troubling that the University had not made an announcement about Muschamp. Nothing official was coming out of Belmont. And coaches of high school recruits were reporting they hadn’t heard any status updates either. What in the world was going on?

Will Muschamp had flown to Knoxville at 5:45 am to meet with Tennessee. Say what?

From about 4 pm until 7 pm that’s all we heard. Everything from the morning seemed false. Not only was this a big name school who was interested in him, but Muschamp had actually already met with them in person. And no one’s sources had said anything about it. Three hours with no new news. That’s not good.

Finally around 7 pm IT editor Ross Lucksinger tweets that, yes, Muschamp did meet with the little UT this morning but two sources have told him that Coach Boom turned down their $3 million offer and is staying at Texas. A Knoxville radio station reports the same and that the Vols are moving on in their coaching search.

And finally, the saga comes full circle and all the news is once again that Muschamp is saying and more importantly the Texas staff is calling up recruits to tell them. Orangebloods and Inside Texas are now both reporting that recruits are starting to hear from the staff that Coach Muschamp isn’t going anywhere. Whew.

That’s all we know. And I’m not even sure how much we know is true. If/when Texas finally makes an official we’ll keep you in the loop.

Update: According to Muschamp himself, reports of him interviewing with Tennessee or any other team are false. He’s happy at Texas. (10:44 pm)

• From this morning… Tennessee offers head coaching position to Will Muschamp?
• Final word? Will Muschamp says he’s staying at Texas

Will Texas coach Will Muschamp be wearing the wrong orange for the wrong UT next year?

Update: Will Muschamp says he didn’t interview with anyone and he’s happy at Texas. More info. (10:31 pm)

Wow. The college football coaching dominoes fall fast.

Saturday word broke that the Seattle Seahawks would hire USC’s Pete Carroll as their new head coach. Yesterday evening, instead of hiring Jeff Fisher or Jack Del Rio the Trojans bring in the obnoxious controversial Lane Kiffin after only one year at Tennessee. That started “riots” in Knoxville.

Are riots in Austin next?

According to Volquest.com, Texas defensive coordinator [tag]Will Muschamp[/tag] is at the top of Tennessee’s wishlist and they have reportedly already offered him the position. Muschamp is one of the two highest paid coordinators in the country and has been named Texas’ head coach-in-waiting, but head coach [tag]Mack Brown[/tag] just signed another contract extension and looks like he could be at Texas for several more seasons. Muschamp also does not have a buyout in his contract, meaning it would cost Tennessee nothing beyond his salary to get him out of Austin.

Muschamp has repeatedly stated that how much he loves Texas and loves Austin and that he intends to stay the defensive coordinator for the Longhorns until it’s his turn. But things change. Is the opportunity to be the head coach of an SEC power too good to pass up?

Both Geoff Ketchum of Orangebloods.com and the Statesman’s Suzanne Halliburton have reported last night and this morning that every source at Texas they talk to says Muschamp is saying. The one person no one has talked to is Muschamp himself.

I don’t expect the Muschamp rumors to last past today, this thing is going to go down fast. Either the school will make an announcement he’s staying (and probably a raise) or we’ll find out he’s gone. We’ll have more news when we hear it.

Update: InsideTexas.com now also reporting more sources saying Muschamp will turn down the Vols. (10:54 am)

Update: News has taken a turn for the worse. Seems once confident sources are now unsure what is going to happen. (4:40 pm)

Update: Will Muschamp flew to Knoxville this morning to meet with Tennessee. He reportedly turns down a $3 mil offer. More info. (8:30 pm)

Update: Finally. Will Muschamp says he’s happy and he’s staying at Texas. (10:31 pm)

The Texas Longhorns are the number 1 team in the land this week after all. The football team came up short, but thanks to a [tag]Kansas[/tag] upset loss the men’s basketball team is now the top ranked team in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. This is the first time in Texas history to hold the number 1 ranking.

Head coach [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] felt the ranking was a compliment to the program and all the effort each of the players puts in every week. Of course, unlike football college basketball has a playoff and as Barnes put it, “I can’t honestly tell you who the No. 1 team was in the country on the second week of January last year, but I do know who won the national championship.”

Here’s this week’s top 5 college basketball teams:

• Full AP top 25 rankings
• Full Coaches Poll