LITTLE ROCK, ARK. ? Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said Thursday that Nebraska officials planned to speak with Razorback coach Houston Nutt about the Cornhusker coaching vacancy.

Nutt said Thursday that there had been no contact with Nebraska, but Broyles said Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson called him Wednesday.

“He asked me yesterday but I asked him not to talk to (Nutt) until today,” Broyles said. Nutt coached the Razorbacks to a 27-14 victory over Missouri in the Independence Bowl Wednesday night.

“I’d hoped we would win and have the celebration out of the way,” Broyles said.

Though Nutt said he hadn’t had contact with Nebraska officials, he didn’t say he wasn’t interested in the job.

Asked if he thought Nutt was at the top of the list, Broyles said: “I don’t think there’s any list. I think that (Nutt) is the top.”

“I’m sure … they’ll be working out an agreement to meet very quickly,” Broyles said.

Broyles noted that Nebraska has a strong program with “a lot of money.” Asked whether Arkansas would match any financial package Nebraska might offer, Broyles said, “Well, we’ll certainly consider it.”

Broyles said Thursday afternoon that his sense was that he could know within 24 hours whether he’d be mounting a search for a new coach.

Nutt, speaking Thursday morning at Shreveport, La., said he didn’t want to be wrapped up in a lengthy Nebraska search.

“You hear rumors and rumors, but there’s nothing in concrete to say this is it,” Nutt said. “Unless I hear from the athletic director and he calls coach Broyles, … I don’t think there’s any truth to it until it actually gets going.”

Nutt has a 48-27 record in six years at Arkansas, 10 fewer victories than former NU coach Frank Solich posted over the same span.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said offensive coordinator Al Saunders had turned down the coaching job at Nebraska.