Now that Nebraska basketball is looking for a new head coach, it's assumed the position is going to be filled by former Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg. That has actually been the rumor for quite a while now. It's been rumored to be such a done deal that people have even been throwing around how much he's going to get paid.

While people outside the program have been talking about Hoiberg being the next man up, athletic director Bill Moos threw a bit of cold water on that talk. During the press conference on Tuesday afternoon (March 26), where the AD talked about why he had fired Tim Miles, Moos made it clear no one was hired yet.

He also said that he had talked to a number of candidates about the job.

A new name enters the fray

One man who Moos had likely not talked to might have entered the picture right about the same time the Nebraska AD was talking to the media. Mike Anderson was let go by the Arkansas Razorbacks just hours after the Huskers let Tim Miles walk. In letting Anderson go, the Razorbacks' administration cited most of the same reasons for why they now have an opening.

Making the case for Nebraska backup plan

While Nebraska and Arkansas are looking to get to the next level, the programs are not on equal footing. Anderson was fired in Fayetteville after going 169-102 in one season more than Miles had in Lincoln.

Anderson also went 78-64 in the SEC, no small feat and even more impressive when measured against Miles' 52-76 record in the Big Ten and 116-114 overall.

Anderson was fired, like Miles, because he could only get his team to the NIT this year. On the other hand, he had gotten Arkansas to the NCAA tournament the last two seasons.

In fact, they've been to the tourney in three of the last five years. That's the kind of run Husker fans would kill for.

Considering that Arkansas plays in the same conference as Auburn, LSU, Kentucky, and Tennessee, it's not a shock they haven't been the creme of the crop.

When you go even further back in Mike Anderson's past, you see an even longer history of success. Before Arkansas, Anderson was the head man at Missouri, where he took the Tigers to three straight NCAA tournaments. Before landing in Columbia, he rose to fame at UAB, where he took the Blazers to the tourney in three of his four seasons.

With 369 career wins, the recently unemployed head man is a proven winner at every stop. While he shouldn't be beating out Fred Hoiberg in the hearts of Nebraska basketball fans, he could be a very nice backup plan that just fell into the school's lap should it need one.
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