THE KINGSTON REGIONAL (BATON ROUGE, LA)

The UTEP Miners vs. The Penn State Nittany Lions

Sunday, March 18, 2012

3:15 MST

TV: ESPN 2 (and online at ESPN3.com- so it's on your Xbox)

Nice little Sunday with the NCAA Tournament in full swing on both the men's and women's side. The Lady Miners of course battle the Penn State Nittany Lions in Baton Rouge, LA, at 3:15 pm MST. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and will also be available on ESPN3.com.

The Lions went 13-3 in Big 10 play and won the regular season title. However, they fell in the semi-final round of the Big 10 tourament to Purdue. But hell, UTEP's lost three games by a total of 7 points this year. This is the tournament and anything can happen.

GAMEDAY LINKS

ESPN previews the entireKingston Regional.

ESPN Previews the game here (More links after the jump)

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Well, the Aggies are done. Time to move on to Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament. Here is your open thread.

The NMSU Aggies at the UTEP Miners

THE DON HASKINS CENTER

Sunday, December 11, 2011

3:00 PM MST

TV: Miner TV (All Access $)

Aggies vs Miners Preview

Sam Khan, Jr. of the Houston Chronicle is reporting that Houston's Assistant Head Coach, Sam Levine, has been named Interim Head Coach for the Cougars. ESPN's Joe Schad notes that Houston will conduct a "national search" for a replacement for Kevin Sumlin. For now, it appears that Levine will lead UH in the Ticket City Bowl scheduled for January 2, 2012, against the Penn St. Nittany Lions.

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The UTEP's women's hoops team beat the New Mexico Lobos 53-43 to bring their season record to a spectacular 8-0. That makes their 2011 season start the best in UTEP women's hoops history. Here's an excerpt from UTEP's athletic site:

Gloria Brown (12 points, 7 rebounds), Briana Green (10 points), Kelli Willingham (10 points) and Kristine Vitola (six points, 10 rebounds) led the way for the Miners, who picked up their first win at The Pit since the 1994-95 season to stand at fourth all time (4-20). Additionally, UTEP is 2-0 on the road for the first time since 2006-07 and the third occasion overall. It has never posted three straight road triumphs to open a year.

I'm not going to pretend to know a whole lot about the women's hoops team. So, here's a link to UTEP's official athletic site with a very well written recap, a box score, and more background on the success of the women's team. Hopefully, as this site continues to grow, we can cover all of UTEP's sports with an original perspective. For now, congrats to Keitha Adams and company. Eight wins against zero losses is a huge accomplishment. Go Miners!

ESPN's Joe Schad is reporting that the Texas A&M Aggies have reached a deal with now former Houston Cougars head Coach Kevin Sumlin. Sumlin will replace Mike Sherman who was fired after a disappointing 2011 season in College Station. Sumlin had served as an assistant for UTEP's Mike Price at Washington State. He was also an assistant at A&M in the 2001-2002 season. The report doesn't say who will coach the Cougars in their January 2nd game against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Ticket City Bowl.

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While this was noted in the FanShots yesterday, I thought it was worthy of a full post. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com reports via twitter, that Julyan Stone's Denver Nuggets contract is for 2 years and is for $1.1 million dollars.

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Well, I guess you can't blame a guy for trying. WAC Commissioner Karl Benson hoped to use the departure of Boise and San Diego State from the Mountain West to lure back Nevada, Fresno State, and Hawaii to his league. It didn't take long for the Nevada Wolf Pack's athletic director, Cary Groth, to say "thanks but no thanks."

"Karl came down the day of the Hawaii game and asked the president (Marc Johnson) and me to reconsider," Groth said, referring to the Nov. 12 game at Mackay Stadium. "And our answer was no, and it’s no still. We made a commitment to the Mountain West. Yes, it’s a different Mountain West, but I have complete faith in what (commissioner) Craig Thompson is trying to do to stabilize the conference. There are a lot of good schools. Plus, I think Nevada and UNLV belong in the same conference."

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Thanks so much to a reader for sending this video my way. My post yesterday on Nolan Richardson's jersey retirement incorrectly stated that UTEP had only previously retired the jersey's of Bobby Joe Hill and Jim "Bad News" Barnes. UTEP has in fact also retired the jersey of Naismith Hall of Famer Nate "Tiny" Archibald. Check out this video, made in 1987, that features an interview with Archibald and clips from his UTEP retirement ceremony.

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According to Jon Teicher, the UTEP Miners mens basketball team will honor legendary alum Nolan Richardson by retiring his #42 jersey Sunday at the Don Haskins Center. Richardson will join Bobby Joe Hill (#14) and Jim "Bad News" Barnes (#45), and Nate"Tiny" Archibald (also #14) as the only Miners to have their numbers officially retired. The retiring will take place at halftime of the NMSU game. Tip is slated for 3:00 p.m. MT.

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What a weekend former UTEP safety Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith is going to have. Earlier today, it was announced that he was activated to the active roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Da'Mon will play in tonight's Thursday NFL matchup between Pittsburgh and the Cleveland Browns.

On Saturday, Da'mon will earn his college degree from UTEP. During the NFL lockout, Da'Mon returned to El Paso to work towards his degree in Communications. Yesterday, he was among the list of twenty five past and present UTEP athletes who made the school's official athlete graduation list.

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Another C-USA open head coaching job appears to be closed as the Memphis Tigers are expected to announce that Justin Fuente will replace Larry Porter. Fuente will go to Memphis from TCU, where he served as co-offensive coordinator under Gary Patterson.

From Dr. Saturday:

In three years under Fuente, TCU's offense set school records for yards and points in 2009, surpassed both marks en route to a 13-0 finish in 2010 and is on pace to break the scoring record again in 2011 — and that's despite breaking in a new quarterback this year, sophomore Casey Pachall, for NFL-bound Andy Dalton. Meanwhile, the rock-bottom outfit Fuente inherits at Memphis finished dead last in Conference USA in total and scoring offense for the second year in a row.

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It's simple math, really. There's no doubt that Air Force's decision to stay in the Mountain West Conference was the first good news that the MWC or C-USA has had in a while. But, now that the Falcons are staying, a quick glance at a map reveals that there are now 9 football schools that should be grouped in a "West" division and only eight football schools in the "East" division. Assuming UTEP plays in the western division, as UTEP AD Bob Stull hinted at last week, the divisions would look something like this:

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Just a quick note here, but I wanted to post this. Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports filed a report yesterday on the proposed Conference USA and Mountain West Conference merger yesterday. While there are more questions to count right now as to how a 17 team league spanning from Hawaii to Huntington, West Virginia, will work, we do now know that Craig Thompson, not Britton Banowsky, will lead the new league.

Sources have indicated that Craig Thompson, the current commissioner of the Mountain West, would become the commissioner of the new merged league, while Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky would step down.

Thompson was commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference before leaving to take over at the MWC in 1998. Banowsky was able to keep C-USA unscathed from the latest round of conference realignment madness until Houston, SMU, and Central Florida decided to leave earlier this week for the Big East. Banowsky has been rumored to be a candidate for the open Big 12 conference commissioners job. That job is currently held, on an interim basis, by Chuck Neinas.

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The Air Force Falcons are nor leaving the Mountain West Conference for the Big East. And, the reasoning behind the decision is so reasonable that it flies in the face of all we've learned about conference affiliation in the last few years. Air Force is staying because of loyalty and a belief that their student athletes will be better off playing regional rivalries as opposed to traveling to Rutgers or UCF to play a football game.

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CBSSports.com is reporting that the Boise St. Broncos, Central Florida Knights, Houston Cougars, SMU Mustangs, and San Diego State Aztecs are leaving the C-USA and MWC to join the Big East in 2013. According to the report, Boise State and San Diego will join the Big East in football only. That would likely send their other sports, including SDSU's blossoming hoops program, to the WAC or Big West. With those five schools on board, Navy is expected to join as a football-only member - possibly as soon as next week - to boost the football membership to 11 schools.

Also, it looks like Air Force is being targeted to become the leagues 12th football school. Air Force would only join as football member.

The Big East hopes to add Air Force as its 12th football school - as a football-only member - but the Falcons still remain undecided.

This move has been expected for a while now. UTEP AD Bob Stull, last week, revealed that the C-USA and MWC, in response to these moves, are moving forward with a plan to merge their leagues. The merger, according to Stull, will likely be in all sports and not just in football as has been previously discussed. Previously, the leagues hoped to form a super conference, possibly including the remaining 5 Big East football schools, to snag an automatic selection into the BCS. Today's report suggests the MWC and C-USA expected these schools to depart and are now moving closer to a 16 team merger, as laid out by Stull.

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The head coaching carousel around the C-USA continued at warp speed as the Tulane Green Wave announced yesterday that they have hired Curtis Johnson to be their next head coach. Johnson replaces Bob Toledo who resigned after compiling a 15-40 record in New Orleans. Tulane quarterback Ryan Griffin sounded excited with the hire:

"We now have a face and a name Ñ it's not just that limbo period, which was kind of weird," Griffin said. "Just how he addressed the team and his attitude, it's really exciting. Really exciting."

Johnson was on the Miami Hurricanes staff in 2002 when they won the National Championship. There, he coached Andre Johnson and Reggie Wayne among others. For the last 5 years, he has been on Sean Payton's staff with the New Orleans Saints as the wide receivers coach.

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Perhaps the biggest bowl news today in the C-USA was the fact that the Liberty Bowl decided not to invite C-USA champion Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles would have been the 17th straight C-USA Champ to participate in the bowl. Despite the fact that USM is now ranked 21st in the AP Poll, the Liberty Bowl opted for a Big East vs. SEC matchup (Vanderbilt vs. Cincinnati). Iliana Limon of the Orlando Sentinel has a very informative blog post up on how the SEC muscled the C-USA Champ out of the game.

In the Liberty Bowl’s defense, it has remained loyal to Conference USA for years. It’s refusal to drop C-USA and match an SEC team with a Big East team on a regular basis cost it valuable position within the SEC pecking order. The negotiations seemed to finally reach a breaking point two years ago, with the Liberty Bowl forced to agree to a complex contract that effectively gave the SEC veto power every two years.

Southern Miss. players might not care too much. Instead of spending New Years in Memphis, they'll spend Christmas in Hawaii. The Eagles will take on the Nevada Wolfpack in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

While two days ago Houston seemed like a lock to head to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, their stunning loss to Southern Miss in the C-USA Championship game leaves the Coogs headed to Dallas for the Ticket City Bowl. The Coogs will take on the Joe Paterno-less Penn State Nittany Lions. The complete C-USA bowl slate is after the jump.

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The coaching carousel insanity in the C-USA is hitting fever pitch. Reports are changing by the minute. Here is the very latest:

1. Kevin Sumlin

Despite Houston's 49-28 implosion, at home, in the C-USA Championship game, all signs still point to Kevin Sumlin becoming the newest coach at Texas A&M University. First, reports broke yesterday out of Arizona that the Sun Devils have broken off talks with Sumlin. Then, reports surfaced that a deal between Sumlin and Texas A&M was in place for him to be named head coach of the Aggies within 24 hours of the Conference USA Championship Game. Aftter the game, Sumlin denied that a deal was in place with the Aggies. Now, the LA Times is reporting that UCLA's athletic director, Dan Guerrero, flew to Houston to meet with Sumlin this weekend.

The Verdict: You'd have to guess that the former Aggie assistant Sumlin wants to stay in the Houston area and take the A&M job. However, the fan base in College Station already seems to be turning on Sumlin in the wake of the USM beatdown. The fans, it appears, are moving towards a preference for Larry Fedora. Despite that, all signs point to Sumlin going to A&M.

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Big news across the C-USA coaching landscape today. Before I publish a post on who's leaving, I wanted to put up this post on a coach that is coming into the C-USA fold. It appears that the UAB Blazers have hired Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee. While no word has been released by UAB, Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino released a statement yesterday congratulating McGee on his new position.

"I want to congratulate Garrick McGee on becoming the head football coach at UAB," Petrino said in the statement. "I have enjoyed watching Garrick progress throughout his career and I am excited to see him get this opportunity. Garrick has been with me as a player and an assistant coach and I thank him for being a big part of everything we have been able to build here at Arkansas."

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The 2011 Conference USA Championship Game

The Southern Miss. Golden Eagles at the Houston Cougars

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Time: 10:00 am MST

TV: ABC

LINK TO GAME PREVIEW HERE

The race is officially on for Houston Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin. Last year, Sumlins name was floated around for high profile jobs, including the vacancy at Tennessee. Now, as Mike Sherman is out at Texas A&M (per Kirk Bohls of the Austin American Statesman) and with the Arizona State job open as well, it seems far less than likely that Sumlin will be UH's coach come bowl season. The Sun Devils have already reportedly offered Sumlin the job with a salary in the neighborhood of $2.5 million a year. It's looking more and more like there will be an all-out bidding war in the coming days.

Check out this solid blog post from Sam Khan of the Houston Chronicle aptly titled "Its a Good Time to be Kevin Sumlin."

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Could the MWCUSA be more than a football alliance aimed at attracting a BCS bowl bid? Or are we reaching closer to a two or more division league that covers the nation in all sports? El Paso journalist Chris Lopez, via his twitter, noted that UTEP athletic director Bob Stull dropped this bomb at todays press conference.

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The UTEP MIners at the UCF Knights

Bright House Networks Stadium

Friday, November 25, 2011

5:00 PM MST

LINK TO BOX SCORE

The UTEP Miners mens basketball team dropped Part I of the Battle of I-10 to the NMSU Aggies 89-73 at the Pan-American Center in Las Cruces tonight.  D'Von Cambpell and John Bohannon led the Miners with 11 points each.  Jacques Streeter chipped in 6 points and 5 assists.

The Miners started three freshman, Campbell, Julian Washburn, and Cedric Lang.  Bohannon is of course just a sophomore. Other freshman C.J. Cooper and Hooper Vint saw significant playing time. From UTEP's official recap:

Wendell McKines posted a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and NM State dominated the glass in an 89-73 win over UTEP on Saturday at the Pan American Center.  The Aggies (3-0) outrebounded the Miners 42-27 and had a 22-13 advantage in second chance points. NMSU also scored 24 points off 16 UTEP turnovers.

Thanks again to Duke Keith for the video below of Tim Floyd's post-game press conference.