utep2step said:

UTEP did compete. Mike Price blew a late season game sending Tulsa to the CUSA championship and Kragthorpe career skyrocketing off to Louisville. Anyways, they were competing because they were in the hunt in the division and fell short. It was gut punching.....no heart wrenching. UTEP lost their great defensive coordinator and never could recover that mojo that Price captured with Nord recruits. Those were some of the best players I have seen in thirty years. They did compete.

I know, I know, you're rebuttal will be, "but they lost". You said they "didn't compete". That is false.

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Roy_Bigwood_05 said:

Stephenville State is terrible.

Interesting opening wagering numbers. My book (decently sharp this year) opened at -16, I cap it UTEP -20.5 looks like odds makers are pricing a UTEP let down after the Louisville game and few day layoff plus Billy return?

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KaneFan29 said:

.... keeping them way too long, driving away fans.

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KaneFan29 said:

I strongly disagree about that. When UTEP joined CUSA; Memphis, Houston, SMU, Rice, Tulsa, Tulane, UAB, and Southern Miss were there. UCF, ECU, and Marshall too, but I couldn’t care less if they were there.

The problem was, UTEP couldn’t compete, especially in football and most of them moved on within 10 years. If we had remained in the WAC, it’s possible we may have been in the MWC earlier, but chances are we would still be in the MWC in 2026. If we can’t compete in watered down CUSA, we would have been at the bottom in the MWC all these years too.

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LTMiner61 said:

The reason it wasn't a good fit was because we've NEVER had a solid financial commitment from the students, administration, alumni and donors, much less the geographic challenges that were there from the very beginning, even with those other programs.

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KaneFan29 said:

I strongly disagree about that. When UTEP joined CUSA; Memphis, Houston, SMU, Rice, Tulsa, Tulane, UAB, and Southern Miss were there. UCF, ECU, and Marshall too, but I couldn’t care less if they were there.

The problem was, UTEP couldn’t compete, especially in football and most of them moved on within 10 years. If we had remained in the WAC, it’s possible we may have been in the MWC earlier, but chances are we would still be in the MWC in 2026. If we can’t compete in watered down CUSA, we would have been at the bottom in the MWC all these years too.

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LTMiner61 said:

It's clearly a watered down MWC, but it's not the C-USA, which has never been a good fit.

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LTMiner61 said:

It's clearly a watered down MWC, but it's not the C-USA, which has never been a good fit. My hope is that we hear more news about additional gifts like the Hunt Family Foundation. It's been a long time since we've seen a strong commitment by major donors publicly. Heck, we had trouble drumming up enough support for a proper training table. Let's hope those days are in the rear-view mirror.

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nattybry said:

Well it’s basically official as of this morning that N. Illinois Football is joining. I say the MTN West should stay put for now. Perfect number for both sports and the TV Money split will be higher. Let’s see what Utep does with the Quadruple or more income boost! Hopefully donors like the Hunts keep donating to help Utep get to the next level. I know many don’t believe in Walden, but I believe we will see dividends as early as next year and the true pay off the year after of his recruiting efforts! I know the shine has worn off a little after the announcement, but be happy Miner Fans we are where most of us wanted for be albeit a watered down version.

MWC Football:
UTEP, UNM, SJSU, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming, Air Force, Hawaii, N. Illinois

MWC Basketball:
UTEP, UNM, SJSU, Nevada, UNLV, Wyoming, Air Force, Hawaii, GCU, UC Davis

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TenaciousD said:

I'm not a voracious Digs reader so apologies if others have made the same observations or comments.

1) David Terrell really, really, really needs to step up. I thought he was a slasher/distributor and would develop his ball handling and shooter, boy was I off. He has made 5 3FG in 42 career games, yes that's a made 3 every 8 games, and is a career 21% 3FG% shooter, even Kevin Henderson is like "damn". He has 76 TO's and 76 Assists in his career, a 1:1 A/TO ratio - not great and he has averaged 1.7 boards his career, not anything spectacular for a 6-4 guard. He is shooting a paltry 35.7% from FT line this year. If I'm an opposing coach, I stay off him 5 feet, dare him to shoot or just foul if he tries to drive.
2) Why does Hebb get 10.7 minutes a game? Cant those minutes go to Bynum or Barnes instead. I am sure those 2 guys can absorb an extra 5 minutes a game each. and will those guys get you more than 1.6 points in 10 minutes? Absolutely. Hebb has taken 1 3FG all year and can't get his own shot. If you split his minutes and amongst those 2 plus Thomas and you are way ahead. We don't have the All-CUSA good guy or hustle award, its about wins and that's it.
3) The 2 headed monster of Kalu/Hamilton is getting 30 minutes a game and delivering 10.1 points and 7.6 boards - that's not bad, if that was a single player, that would be very respectable. Never thought our big guys would NOT be a liability this season and Terrell would.

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utep2step said:

What a damn insult to college coaching staff who work hard to make sure their players work in the classroom and graduate. La Tech is not only a filthy cheap shot, injury faking, under performing flatulence smelling program and obviously don't care aboul them graduating, but now they get rewarded with a bowl game?! Seriously NCAA?!!

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