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.  

Comments

[chris lopez]

Good post. Hope you stay on top of this for those of us who read the blog.

[fernando]

Are you serious? Central Michigan and Buffalo part of a "new" Big 12? Don't just make any absurd and random comments without seriously thinking what you just wrote. Nobody cares about the MAC, that's why no one wants to raid their conference. The MAC is to the Big Ten as the Sun Belt is to the SEC; they're cupcakes to prepare for conference matches.

The Big 12 will dissolve. The remaining 4 teams from the Big 12(Iowa St, Kansas, Kansas St, and Baylor) should end up in C-USA. The Mountain West was created by guys who did not like a 16 team conference. What makes them change their mind now? I don't understand how most people assume the MWC will absorb these teams. Remember, the MWC doesn't even have a contract with ESPN. They have a deal with CBS College Sports and Comcast (Versus and The Mtn.)

As for the Montana comment, I can see them in the WAC once Boise St jumps to the MWC. Also, look for other FCS schools like Cal Poly, UC-Davis, Sacramento St, and Portland St to join the new WAC within 5 years. It's where NMSU belongs anyway, with a bunch of FCS schools.

[Jace]

Little hopeful there, most likely Big 12 is a goner, KU, KSU, ISU all go to smaller conferences, which is sad for KU, going to a lesser conference will make them another Memphis in Basketball.

[Golden State]

All this change is about football. UTEP is terrible in football with a pitiful record in the last 40 years. UTEP goes nowhere and should be happy to be in a decent basketball conference in CUSA.

[mark s mcdonald sr]

A UTEP grad ('72) and football letterman ('70-'71), I am emotionally invested in what happens to the beloved Miners.

Hoping for the best, I fear the worst -- that we will be a throw-in school, locked into an irrelevent conference where rivalries cannot be kindled.

The recent vote against raising student fees to boost revenues for the athletic department was not a plus.

With our presence at games, with our donations, we gotta pay to play.