This is moving so quickly

Now it appears Texas A&M might be considering the SEC. Could Kansas go with them, if that's the direction the Aggies head?

Is it true Kansas State MUST go wherever Kansas goes? State politics, you know? We've heard that about Utah-BYU and some other same-state schools, and that T-Tech and Baylor made it into the Big 12 because of some strong state lawmakers?

Anyway, if it's  A&M and Kansas to the SEC, then move Tulane or La Tech into the new UTEP conference as listed in the previous post about 10 minutes ago.

Comments

[fernando]

I really doubt that A&M goes to the SEC without Texas. Texas is the driving force behind this. They are calling the shots and are not impressed with the academics in the SEC. I believe TX, A&M, OU, OSU, and TTU will be a part of the new Pac 16 next week. Also expect Missouri to join the Big Ten later on.

As for the Kansas, Kansas St, Iowa St, and Baylor, C-USA should scoop them up. I do NOT believe that breaking away from your conference (ie UTEP along with C-USA West) is a good idea. C-USA should really try to make a strong case for a BCS spot if they can get these teams. Beat the Mountain West to the punch. Boise St makes a good choice football wise, but brings nothing outside of it. Just my thoughts.

[NormanT]

Football is the driver and that's why Boise got into the MWC. It's a shame that basketball didn't play a part in all this movement. The MWC was a good move for Boise since the MWC will be a BCS conference soon.

It will be interesting to see if UTEP makes it into a new conference. I doubt it will be with the remnants of the Big 12. The remaining Big 12 schools will band together to form another conference. It will probably include the central Texas schools like Houston and Rice. I would imagine Tulsa will be invited. I doubt UTEP gets an invite, but who knows.

[Chris Lopez]

I'd like to see UTEP in the Mountain West with Boise State.

[D. Nevarez]

UTEP if you are talking football is a long way from being a BCS Team, I'm sorry to say that, but it has been very non productive over the last 3 years. CUSA needs to do what it takes to keep the Conference in tact. Basketball, hmmm that's a different story any way you want to look at it.

[MinerMike]

So was Baylor for a decade, what does that have to do with anything? If you look from the middle to the bottom of each "BCS Conference", you will find teams that UTEP would and have been competitive with. We lost to Tech 2 or 3 years ago by an overtime field goal after ours winning field goal bounced off the upright. We beat a ranked Houston team last year. We have as many good wins as we have poor losses. Don't kid yourself, they can be competitive. All this team needs is consistency and confidence. Your "UTEP if you are talking football is a long way from being a BCS Team" is a ridiculous comment!

[Golden State]

If you look at the UTEP football program over the last 40 years, it is the absolute dregs. No way the Miners get into the MWC competing with the likes of Boise State, and possibly schools from the Big 12. The Miners are closer to lowly NMSU than Boise. No knock on the Miners, just the way it is.

Basketball is another story. If basketball prowess were taken into account, and I'm not even counting the 66 championship, then UTEP would trump Boise easy.

[we need the MWC]

Attention miner mike - your spaceship is leaving in 15 minutes. Utep has stunk it up in football by losing games in the final minutes the last few years. This past year had we beaten the likes of T-Tech, Ole Miss and Byu - we would be taken a bit more seriously and received a much better seed than we did. Let's face it - we ARE closer to being at NMSU's level than you care to adamit. One good basketball season does not a legacy make.

[MinerMike]

No doubt that UTEP has been in the cellar for the better part of 4 decades in the football arena. My point isn't that UTEP is anywhere near ready for primetime, and "deserves" to be in a BCS conference rather that a team doesn't have to be on par with TU, OU, Florida & Ohio State to belong either. There are whipping boys in every BCS conference. Teams that only went 4-8 & 5-7 that only beat their very weak non-conference foes. Does this mean they should be kicked out? The same goes in the opposite direction, you don't have to be USC to be competitive. Sure it helps, but it's not necessary. Boise State isn't finding success because they're littered with 'Blue Chippers' roaming the sidelines. They've got stellar coaching and more importantly have developed an expectation of success and confidence. This bleeds it's way into the swagger of not only the team but the fan base. I believe the same would hold true for UTEP with a modicum of success, confidence and consistency. At the collegiate level football it's all about momentum. Starting each of our seasons with one to two losses has it's tendancy to set the pace for the remainder of the season. The old "here we go again" mentality sinks in.

[wwwest]

UTEP goes to WAC or stays in the CUSA....Its that simple...Lets look at the WAC: Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii are very respectable teams for UTEP to play, so that would be ok....Louisiana Tech is the odd ball team in that conference, doesnt make sense that they are in there, they may end up in cusa. CUSA will stay the same only if the Big 10 stays the same as now but if they start raiding other conferences and take Pittsburg, Syracuse, Rutgers..then look at ECU, UCF, Memphis trying to leave cusa....then cusa will go after teams like Baylor, TT, KSU, etc.....
too many possibilities but in two weeks all the dust will settle. This is all about money!!!

P.S. I cannot imagine Texas being part of the Pac 10; just doesnt seem right....they belong in the SEC along with A&M and Oklahoma.

[silverado in EP]

Riddle me this: when was the last time the Utep football team beat a team from a BCS conference? Whipping boy or powerhouse - does not matter. I honestly cannot remember. Help.

[Dave]

The Miners haven't won against any BCS school since 2002, as far back as ESPN shows the teams they've played.

Since the BCS isn't that old itself, the Miners may have never beaten a BCS team, at least one in the BCS era. The Miners have a total of 6 winning seasons in the last 40 years. With that kind of history, you aren't going to garner too much interest by expanding conferences. Hence the MWC giving the team the heave-ho when it created itself.

[Michael]

Expand the WAC by adding Houston, Rice, SMU, and UTEP, thus giving the WAC two divisions.

West Division: Hawai, San Jose, Nevada, Fresno St., Idaho, Utah St.

East Division: Houston, Rice, NMSU, UTEP, SMU, La Tech

Benefits include:
1. A WAC football championship game.
2. A WAC presence in both the Houston and Dallas markets.
3. Better travel partnerships.
4. Added stability just in case more shuffling comes about.

[silverado in EP]

Okay - surely Utep must have beaten a team from a major conference once upon a time! I was at the Texas Tech game a few years ago when Price ended up losing the game due to poor decisions. Frankly "ALMOST" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!

[John C]

Let's now talk about getting UTEP house affairs in order!!!

If Big 12 vanishes----the mountain men of MWC stand to gain alot!!!

Probably Kansas & Kansas State at least if not other left overers of the Big 12. MWC would immediately have BCS status.

Mike Price has to lead UTEP football program into several consecutive successfull seasons to include accompanying bowl appearances. Presently CUSA has a better TV and bowl arrangement than does the MWC. Mike Price has to deliver UTEP football program to consecutive bowl appearances (all it takes is a 6-7 game win season)!!

BAsketball----Tim Floyd will deliver UTEP to the top of the basketball elite in the NCAA no question about it!!

So if UTEP expects to build its market value, it has to deliver on the football field---period!!

If you remember---when we moved to CUSA, UTEP was on the upswing with Mike Price and consecutive bowl appearances!! UTEP had gone to the NCAA tourney under Billy Gillespie.

If the old timers remember back to 1970 when the newly formed WAC invited UTEP---- a recent NCAA Basketball Championship and a perenial national powerhouse in basketball with several runs deep into the NCAA tourney. Football significant power in football (Billy Stevens, Chuchk Hughes, Fred Carr era)2 Bowl appearances (yes Sun Bowl against Missisippi and TCU) that UTEP won.

UTEP has to deliver now in both football and basketball.

The point to make-----UTEP has the head coaches now in both football (Mike Price) and basketball (Tim Floyd) to deliver UTEP to a BCS conference!!

[Dave]

John C,

It's nice that you remember how good the Miners were 40 years ago. That's about the last time the Miners were decent in football and basketball. Forty years might as well be one hundred.

Mediocre 6-7 records or 6-6 records in football and invites to minor bowls won't get the Miners into anywhere. Boise State has been good, really good, since it came into the WAC about 8 years ago. They were good before they moved to the WAC. They are just now getting consideration by the MWC. How long will it take for UTEP to be a consistent winner in football considering its been 40+ years since they last strung together more than 3 back to back to back wins in a decade? Think about this, all of the movement in the conferences is going to take place in the next 12 months. That means if UTEP isn't invited now with its crappy record while there is a PAC10 that has a place for 6 more teams or an MWC that has room to expand or an SEC or Big 10 with space for more teams, then those conferences will be filled teams other than UTEP. That's the sad truth of it. Consider that if 5 BCS conferences have 16 teams each, that's 80 schools out of the 120 schools available. The BCS pie won't get bigger with the leftover schools like the Miners and NMSU Aggies.

As far as television, If the MWC makes the BCS and gets Kansas, KState and other Big 12 schools, then their television package will get much, much better. The payouts to the schools' athletic departments will get better.

One last thing. It is very possible that a new division in college football is coming. It will consist of what is now the BCS schools.

Guess where UTEP will be.

[John C]

Mr Dave:

I hear every word you say and agree in most part.

However, UTEP has worked hard on upgrading facilities which is now probably better than most in MWC. However, facilities does not get you an invite to a major conference.

The sad truth is that football is what counts and possibly academics.

I do believe that if Mike Price can deliver more than a few---several winning seasons and accompanying bowl games, then UTEP stands a chance to increase their market value for BCS conference.

I have all of the confidence in Tim Floyd taking UTEP to the elite status of the NCAA in basketball.

It is a fact that we in El Paso are isolated from the rest of Texas in football and this starts with high school football. El Paso teams do not get by the Permian basin schools period!! The same mentatity is seen on the turf of the Sun Bowl when UTEP plays-----there is no tradition of winning!!!

A school builds that tradition on the field. Winning is mostly subconscious as it is expected in a winning program. UTEP has not built that in football.

The winning tradition has been built with UTEP basketball due to Don Haskins.

The negative perception about UTEP football program can be turned around----it will take several winning seasons and accompanying bowl appearances to do it.

You have to believe it can happen---menatlly seeing it happen is where it all starts!!!

[Brad]

John C.,

Actually El Paso high school football has had recent success against the Permian Basin this decade, the real problem is the DFW schools. While we can win (or only lose by a few points) to the PB schools, we do get our hinneys handed on a platter by the DFW's... unfortunately it has a lot to do with a lack of depth at the linemen positions. Even if a greater number of our big kids are now averaging about 6 ft and 225 lbs, they are still going against DFW schools where the average player is 2-3 inches taller and about 50 lbs heavier (oh yes, and they have more of them so plenty of depth).

[silverado EP]

Here is an interesting idea: seeing how we are not going to impress anybody "soon" with our athletics - can Utep change their admission standards so that not 99.9% of students that apply are accepted. Yes, tuition will increase as we get better professors. The benefit of this in the long run is that we will be able to brag about our academics. As long as we are a "tier 4" school (see US News & World Report), schools like us and NMSU cannot play ball in a big boy's world.

[JCV]

There's been talk of the remaining schools from the Big 12 (Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Baylor)keeping the big 12 together and inviting schools into the new big 12. If that's the case I don't see UTEP being left out of the "new" Big 12 or the MWC. I see those confereces actually extending invitations to the Miners. Worst case scenario would be if the MWC invited the remaining schools. That would end all expansion and the end of the big 12. There's alot of haters out there (call themselves realist!) they talk about UTEP's anemic performance in football recently. What people tend to forget is that after the remaining Big 12 school, what's left? Houston, Tulsa, and UTEP are the best schools out there. Hopefully we'll join the new water down big 12, that would be the best scenario.

[Westtex]

I doubt there will be a "new" Big 12 because it would be a sad, watered-down version of its former self and it won't be a BCS conference for long. It makes more sense for the likes of Kansas, KState, Iowa State, Baylor to join a more powerful MWC, a BCS-bound conference, than add terrible teams like UTEP to something that barely resembles the old Big 12. So no invites to UTEP for the new "little" 12.

Getting an invite to the MWC is a puff of smoke as well. If the MWC gets the above Big 12 teams and Boise, what one additional team makes more sense to add? Tulsa? Houston? UTEP? Would it even add another team. Remember, the MWC passed on the Miners ten years ago. What has changed to make UTEP more attractive? Certainly not any improvement in athletic prowess. And every team on the planet has made improvement to their facilities, no like that's a big motivator anyway.

Let's face it, the Miners aren't going anywhere.

[patrick stone]

The remaining Big 12 will probably swallow up conference usa.That would be the best for utep not the wac or mwc

[Dave]

patrick,

Kansas and Kansas State only want what's best for UTEP. Let's see. Join BYU, Utah, Boise, UNLV, Air Force and the rest of the MWC or invite those powerhouses in CUSA to be part of the new pansy Big 12.

Thanks for the laugh. Best post today.

[MinerMike]

Attention all "realists"...you will never be confused as a visionary. Success is based on vision. As a coach you publicly site a positive spin on your wins and the close misses. Behind closed doors you focus on the losses. Since 2005 UTEP has lost on average by 14 points and this number is exagerated by a couple of absolute shellackings at the hands of a few. Although this isn't a great average, considering how anemic our defense has been it illustrates that we're only a couple of defensive stops from an entirely different season outcome. Again, I'm not trying to sell anyone on the concept that "we belong" or that based on this close losing average "we deserve" anything, rather that there is hope. However our fan base has a level of responsibility in this and that means quit being fair-weather and focusing only on the obvious negative. Earth to Miner Nation your continued regurgitation of the obvious is unimaginative.

[Westtex]

MinerMike: Only 14 points per loss on average? Dude, that's a lot of points to average losses by. It could also illustrate that we are a couple of defensive misses from having a 28 point loss average going by your logic. How many division II cupcakes and teams like NMSU are on the schedule each year that we beat. NMSU has beaten us twice in 3 years for pity's sake.

Here's a vision for you. Put the wasted funds that are allocated for UTEP football into basketball. Let's be great at something instead of terrible at football and passable at basketball.

[silverado in EP]

First of all mike - being an "optimist" is good for the soul - but being "delusional" is not!