Tried to get away from San Jose and others.
Dang. This is getting good. Maybe UTEP does slide into the Pac 12. Half kidding!
I’m sure any of these schools who jumped ship in the last couple of years signed deals with mega penalties. These conferences were left scrambling a couple of years ago, they weren’t going to let it happen a second time.
I wonder if a worst case scenario develops where the MWC stabilizes and they don’t need to add UTEP.
P12 only has 6 football teams. They need 2 more no matter what
That or OSU and WSU to the MWC. Probably the most likely outcome with UTEP left in CUSA until the ACC implodes.
I don’t think the Lobos would have any issues with UTEP joining the MWC. We had a pretty good rivalry with them when we were both members of the old WAC. We would immediately resume our rivalry. El Paso and ALB have more in common than any other FCS schools from the Dakotas or from other areas. If anything, the Lobos may have issues with nmsu joining, due to the recent incidents involving the aggies basketball players. I think UTEP stands a good chance of getting into the MWC with the likely defection of more schools to the PAC-12. Wilson and Senter should be proactively talking to MWC and even PAC-12 officials, (even though the PAC-12 is a long shot)….what do we have to lose? It sucks that our football and basketball teams have been struggling at a very crucial time. The positive things for UTEP are we’re the only game in town and when the Miners win they can draw big crowds. Several schools that were mentioned as possible additions to the PAC-12 can’t move because of the huge exit fees. I don’t think the Miners would be paying a huge amount to leave CUSA.
This may be the domino that leads to utep to the MWC. Unless the MWC gets Texas State... but that move doesn't make sense for Texas State. The other worry is that the MWC brings Sac State/NDSU up from FCS instead of UTEP.
Sac St plays basketball in this 1,000 seat 70 year old gym.
hornetsports.com
UTSA has a HS gym and they passed UTEP by. Sac State is in a huge market and is committing more resources to make the jump.Sac St plays basketball in this 1,000 seat 70 year old gym.
The Nest - Facilities - Sacramento State
The official facilities page for the Sacramento State
UTSA’s basketball arena is MSG compared to that dump.
sactownsports.com
That’s great, pure fantasy at this point. They have no plans for the new football or basketball arenas. Let alone have funding for them. At least 5 years before they even move an ounce of dirt. Not to mention, we’re talking about California here.Plans for new Sacramento State stadium revealed
The 'SAC 12' revealed plans for a new Sacramento State football stadium and much more this week. Is it possible?
I don’t think UTEP should be confident they’re going to get the call from the MWC. Any one of the prospective schools and the MWC could look at both UTEP and NMSU and list a litany of negatives with our programs, foremost being our historically awful football programs. Don’t forget we haven’t been on the right side of conference realignment since we jumped from the WAC in the early 2000s and if anything we’re even less appealing since then. If a smaller school like Sacramento St or anyone else is willing to invest big money to field a competitive sports program that may mean UTEP is on the short end again.
You’re not wrong, but Sac St is an expansion candidate for 2035, not 2026. When both the Pac/MWC need teams.
I hope you’re right but our competition now includes Keenesaw St, SHSU, and Jacksonville St. These schools have found a way to catch up to UTEP in a matter of years. We’ve been rolling downhill since the early-mid 2000s, and if something doesn’t change real soon it would be surprising to see another group of FCS schools catch and pass the Miners sooner rather than later.
They only caught up because of desperation and CUSA’s vision to survive. Nobody wants to have an 8 team conference that is 1 defection away from having to find another team somewhere.
But what I’m saying is, these school are actively trying to move forward while UTEP (and NMSU) are stuck in neutral and in some cases moving backwards. It’s like we’ve said here. 45 years ago we were in a conference with Arizona and Arizona St. 30 years ago we were in a conference with BYU and TCU. 20 years ago we were in a conference with Memphis AND UCF. It’s been nothing but drop offs and if this administration doesn’t get it together we may get passed up again by the Sac States of the world. The way we keep swirling down the drain we could get passed way before 2036.
And that’s the same situation MW will be in. Leaving the door wide open for western fcs schools to catch up to us.
Agree. Kappy or some other EP sports reporter needs to contact Senter or Wilson to find out what they’re doing to get UTEP into a better conference. UTEP is watching the train go by…
No. The MWC has 2 FBS ready schools in waiting. FCS schools still need to the ability to want to move up.
Maybe Wilson needs to get on the phones too.
