Haha, where to begin....
1. Gay Love Triangle. Obviously, I'm not in these guys' bedroom or know everything about their personal life, but I'm 99.9% sure the gay love triangle is social media "fun." A Mizzou fan started it. Devo has always painted his nails so that's why he was involved. Trevon Brazile transferred to Arkansas from Mizzou, so you can see why he was the target. Jalen Graham and Traman Mark? Collateral damage, I guess. Most Arkansas message boards haven't really allowed posts on it, as no one with actual knowledge believes it, but some fans have the attitude "probably not true, but something sure as hell messed this season up, lol."
At least Brazile and Graham have had a little fun with it - see pics below posted after beating.....Mizzou.
2. This season. Live by the portal, die by the portal. This season was the first where Muss ended up with the worst case scenario you can get from the portal. A bunch of guys who entered the portal for all the wrong reasons, problems with the coach, problems with their roles, wanted more $$ and so on. It's not a likeable group of guys and you can tell the effort simply isn't there consistently. He also brought back two guys who were pretty big character problems last year in Mitchell and Graham. IMO, he got overly confident in his abilities to mesh a team together over the course of the season. He can't just take any 7 guys, regardless of skill set, position and character makeup and meld them together into a team. But I think he believed he could.
3. NIL. There have been a lot of rumors of a rift between the Hunts (who are the largest supporters of basketball NIL) and Muss. The story I believe to be true is that the players who are supported by the NIL are not showing up for agreed upon appearances. Unlike many collectives, where players' NIL is used for profit based business, the Hunt's collective (AAC) is charity and community service related and players are expected to lend their NIL to these events, make appearances, etc. Something the Hunts very much believe in. This may have lead to some players not getting paid, which potentially could lead to some players not putting out effort or even quitting. Devo left the program at one point last year, which I believe was NIL related. And he's stepped away from team again this season.
4. Muss leaving. I do believe he wants the Louisville job. I personally love Muss and hope he stays, but I do think he wears on people and runs its course over a few years. His assistant turnover has always been very high. I don't think he would want out bad enough to go to Arizona State or Minnesota as has been rumored, as those would be huge steps down in prestige, pay and NIL; but Louisville is a top 10-15 job with a hungry fanbase eager to win and Muss can step in there and flip the roster fast. If he doesn't get the Louisville job, not sure what will happen.
2, 3 and 4 are all obviously related and intertwined. Chicken, egg....