Given the firing of Arkansas Athletics Director Jeff Long earlier this week, there’s no shortage of talk about the future of Bret Bielema.

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, given his coaching history and background in Arkansas, is one name often connected to Fayetteville.

Earlier this week, Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said there would be a 75 percent to 80 percent chance that Arkansas would offer the job to Malzahn. Hall also detailed that splintering support from the Arkansas Board of Trustees led to Long’s dismissal. Those trustees, along with “big money” donors are heavily involved with the possible pending coaching search, according to Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman. ESPN’s Booger McFarland, similarly, said on Sports Talk with Bo that Malzahn has heard that Malzahn has indicated he wants to be in Arkansas.

For his part, Malzahn seemed to shift fanbase support following a thumping of Georgia last week, which reversed a trend. It broke a six-game losing streak to top-10 teams dating to 2014 for Malzahn who appeared to silence critics who said he was often out-coached in big games.

Much of this depends on two key factors: How quickly Arkansas hires an athletics director. And how Auburn plays the rest of the season, especially if the Tigers make the College Football Playoff.