Well, you can scratch off one of the big names on UW's wish list --- Missouri's Gary Pinkel.

ESPN.com is reporting today that Pinkel has agreed to a lengthy extension allowing him to "end his career'' at Missouri. Here's more on the deal from the Columbia Tribune, saying it could pay him about $2.5 million a year.

This isn't really a surprise as the buzz all along had been that Pinkel was unlikely to want to leave Missouri.

He was an obvious choice because of his ties to UW and to Don James -- he played for James at Kent State and began his coaching career under James at Kent State, then followed him to UW where he spent 12 years before leaving in 1991 to become head coach at Toledo.

Pinkel was a finalist for the UW job in 1998 that instead went to Rick Neuheisel.

Now he appears set to stay at Missouri for the rest of his career, meaning two of the top targets are off UW's list. It was announced earlier this week that Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp will stay at that school after being designated as head coach in waiting to succeed Mack Brown.

Interestingly, this is now Pinkel's third coaching extension in three years, indicating that Missouri felt there was some urgency to again sweeten the deal for him and make him stay put -- maybe talks with UW had gotten serious. The ESPN story mentions only UW when talking about jobs Pinkel might have been interested in.

And this is typically how coaching searches work, with the list gradually dwindled as a number of guys make decisions to stay where they are.

What we know for sure is that UW has interviewed Notre Dame offensive coordinator Michael Haywood, but that he isn't thought to be a front-runner for the job.

There are rumors that as many as three candidates have been interviewed, but names of the others haven't leaked. There also continue to be rumblings that Jim Mora's candidacy isn't dead, but nothing has been officially confirmed on that front. In fact, the only thing official on Mora has been a statement saying he wasn't a candidate for the job.

What we know for sure today, as well, is that the new coach won't be Gary Pinkel.

A FEW MORE THINGS to pass your way before hitting the highway. ...

--- Our main story today focused on the financial challenges awaiting both the Huskies and Cougars thanks to the faltering economy.

--- We also had this story on walk-on linebacker Fred Wiggs.

--- And this column from Jerry Brewer saying that if the Huskies haven't quit, it will show on Saturday.

--- We also had this story on Skyline WR Kasen Williams, son of former Husky Aaron Williams and a top recruit in a few years.

--- Here's all the coverage from the Spokesman-Review, including a link to their story on UW QB Ronnie Fouch.

--- ESPN's Ted Miller wonders if a star will rise out of the muck of the Apple Cup.

BLACKMAN SAYS HE'S GOOD TO GO --- Also meant to pass this along the other day, but Dawgman.com has reported that QB Dominque Blackman says he has gotten a qualifying SAT score and will enroll at UW this winter. That's a definite plus in adding to Washington's QB depth for the future. Blackman signed last February but didn't make it in, one of the reasons UW has just three scholarship QBs this year.

All for now.