Turn Up the Orange | UTEP sports talk

UTEP's Derrick Caracter a Laker

Surely many fans were hoping the rumors of former UTEP star Derrick Caracter falling to the Dallas Mavericks on NBA Draft Day were true. 

The centerpiece of last year's Conference USA championship team ending up a Southwest flight away?

Yeah, that's what happened. But point that nose cone westward. 

The Los Angeles Lakers selected Caracter with the 58th pick of the draft Thursday night. 

Caracter is the first UTEP player to be chosen in the draft in 15 years. The 6-foot-9 forward was a Conference USA second-team selection last season. 

The last UTEP player to be drafted was George Banks in 1995. 

Caracter is the third Miner to play for the Lakers. Jim Barnes played for the Lake Show in 1967-68. And Greg Foster was in Los Angeles in 2000. 

What does realignment mean for UTEP?

The first conference realignment domino has fallen as Colorado announces it has accepted an invitation to join the Pac-10. 

The move sets up the potential migration of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State out west to set up a so-called "Pac-16 Conference."

Nebraska is also reportedly on the move to the Big Ten, which will also add four more schools to become a 16-team conference of its own. The ACC and SEC have said in months prior that they are prepared to follow suit.

It means we’re on the path to perhaps four or five super conferences in the college football landscape, perhaps even a playoff system, all within the next decade. 

Where does Conference USA, and UTEP, fit in all this? 

I think it’s tough to say. There are many scenarios that need to play out before the Miners can even begin making new travel plans. 

Perhaps the first question that needs to be answered is “What happens to the Big 12 (assuming the aforementioned schools leave?)” Does it dissolve? Does it reload? Many teams seem to be a natural geographical fit for the conference — including current Conference USA teams Tulsa, Houston and Rice. Don’t forget about TCU from the Mountain West. 

That’s already four schools to replace the seven potential vacancies in the conference. Count on four more if the Big 12 hopes to join the superconference ranks and attempt to keep its automatic BCS bid in football. Some of those openings could be filled by schools from up north, closer to current Big 12 member Iowa State. Central Michigan and Buffalo are schools that come to mind. And don't count out the possibility that Montana would make the jump from the FCS to join the Bowl Subdivision. 

Can UTEP fit into these plans? It is a geographic fit. It has proven that it can compete against the Houstons and Tulsas of the world in football and basketball. It has decent facilities. Can the Miners show they deserve an invitation to the Big 12? How important is it now for El Paso to show up during that Conference USA basketball tournament next season? 

The stakes have certainly been raised. And this is only one possible scenario of many. But UTEP, and the rest of the lower echelon of college football better start getting ready. 

Where do you guys think UTEP ends up? 

The Sun Bowl

One question I haven’t heard asked too much is what happens to El Paso’s annual bowl game with this plan. 

Personally, I think it won’t survive another decade. 

If a playoff system is instituted, all but perhaps the big four bowl games — Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange — will cease to exist. 

Teams and fans will not want to travel to neutral sites such as El Paso for an early-round playoff game when they know they’ll have to potentially travel the following week if they advance. And playing for home-field advantage will be what keeps the regular season meaningful. 

How does the Sun Bowl stay afloat in that scenario?

The USC investigation 

Punishments for USC’s football and basketball programs were revealed today. 

And as several commenters stated on yesterday’s post, Tim Floyd’s time with the Trojans cost the Miners nothing. 

But USC’s program takes several hits. The Los Angeles Times breaks it down:

• Postseason ban for the 2009-10 men's basketball season. (self-imposed).

 

• Vacation of all basketball wins in the 2007-08 season, including the NCAA tournament. (self-imposed).

 

• Reduction of men's basketball scholarships from 13 to 12 for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years. (self-imposed).

• Reduction of the total number of recruiting days in men's basketball by 20 days (from 130 to 110) for the 2010-11 academic year. (self-imposed).

 

• Remittance of the $206,200 the university received for its participation in the 2008 NCAA basketball tournament. (self-imposed).

 

• Disassociation of football player Reggie Bush, basketball player O.J. Mayo and "booster" Rodney Guillory.

• Release of three men's basketball recruits from their letters of intent. (self-imposed).

• Prohibition of all non-university personnel, including boosters, from traveling on football and men's basketball charters; attending football and men's basketball team practices; attending or participating in any way with university football and men's basketball camps, including donation of funds; and having access to the sidelines and locker rooms for football and men's basketball games.  

Has Tim Floyd cost UTEP a scholarship?

The University of Southern California, where current UTEP  basketball coach Tim Floyd last held a head coaching job, is expected to hold a news conference Thursday to respond to the NCAA investigation of it’s football and men’s basketball programs. 

A report from the Sporting News states that the NCAA’s “Committee on Infractions will disclose what it has uncovered during its lengthy probe of the programs. The university has admitted the basketball program committed violations related to the recruitment of O.J. Mayo, and it has imposed its own penalties, including a one-year postseason ban.

“Once the findings of the investigation (which started in 2006) are released, USC would have a chance to appeal.”

A big question many Miner fans want answered is whether the findings will have any effect on the UTEP basketball team. 

Meanwhile, this report from the NCAA last updated during the weekend lists UTEP as having a scholarship reduction in men’s basketball due to penalty. 

Has Tim Floyd’s past cost the Miners a scholarship player? So far, mum’s been the word on campus.

Stay tuned. 

C-USA tourney fun

This video is making the rounds of Twitter today. Pretty funny.

And in case you need to catch up the history of it, here's the Geoff Calkins column that inspired the video: C-USA going to great lengths to snub Memphis.