The Dig: Can't Wait for Happy Hour & UTEP vs. Tulsa Round 2 Edition
by Adrian Mac on Jan 28, 2011 12:31 PM MST
in The Dig (Conference USA Round Up)
Email
PrintIn The Dig: It's noon on a Friday and the Rush should be on a patio with a Tecate somewhere. Since that's out of the question for a few hours, we might as well take a look around the good, old C-USA. The Rush kicks off the Dig with a shameless plug.
Miner Rush News
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY: Is just around the corner on February 2, 2011. The Rush is going to be your one stop shop for all the best UTEP signing day coverage. Be sure to check in early and often for constant updates, a mega post, breaking news, and more. This is the Rush's first national signing day, and I can't tell you how excited I am to help provide the Miner Nation with the kind of recruiting news and analysis that it deserves but has never been given.
FACEBOOK: Like the Rush on Facebook. Or don't. Hey, it's your life. Seriously, though the FB page has 199 likes. Somebody out there help take us over the 200 fan hump. Know that I won't clog your feed with every UTEP press release that comes out. Only breaking news, recruiting info, and an occasional Dig. Maybe this one.
TWITTER: I thought twitter was stupid at first but have to admit it's very cool- especially if you want constant updates on UTEP news and other things- like where the best happy hours are at in El Paso on a given day (I don't tweet that, I'm Doing El Paso does and it's awesome). Note that on the main page, all the way down the right sidebar, I've made a twitter widget with all the UTEP Players twitter feeds running. Randy Culpepper, Jeremy Williams, Julyan Stone? All on it. Even incoming UTEP players like Jalen Ragland and CJ Cooper are on it. The list I've created is for past, current, and future UTEP football and basketball players who are on twitter. There is one exception, Miner Rush favorite Kelsey Moore also made the cut. Sue me.
YouTube: The Rush now has a YouTube Channel, complete with one whole video. I won't post a lot of videos, but you should all subscribe to Duke Keith, MinersWon, UTEP Athletics, and Nicole Cartier who posts the C-USA's official videos.
UTEP vs. Tulsa Round Two
From the Horses Mouth: Check out the video above for Tim Floyd's thoughts on TU. The video is courtesy of UTEP Athletics.
CBS Colllege Sports: UTEP's 6:05 pm MST game against Tulsa will be televised on CBS College Sports.
Efficiency Reigns: Basketball Prospectus marks the C-USA squads for their efficiency. The measurement is simple. How many points per possession does a team score on offense? How many points per possession does a team allow? Now subtract the ppp allowed from the ppp scored and you get an efficiency rating. UTEP is the most efficient league in the C-USA (through Tuesday, so Tulane part 2 wasn't included yet). BP also manages a short dig at Tony Barbee.
C-USA: Does Tony Barbee ever regret leaving UTEP for Auburn?
W-L Pace PPP Opp. PPP EM
1. UTEP 4-1 63.1 1.06 0.92 +0.14
2. Memphis 4-1 67.4 1.01 0.96 +0.05
3. Tulsa 3-2 65.1 1.03 0.98 +0.05
4. East Carolina 3-2 65.1 1.07 1.04 +0.03
5. Marshall 1-3 70.0 1.05 1.03 +0.02
6. UAB 3-2 64.8 1.03 1.02 +0.01
7. Houston 3-2 62.3 1.08 1.08 0.00
8. SMU 2-3 61.3 1.09 1.11 -0.02
9. Southern Miss 3-3 67.8 1.10 1.13 -0.03
10. Tulane 2-3 65.3 1.07 1.11 -0.04
11. Rice 1-4 64.9 0.97 1.07 -0.10
12. UCF 1-4 66.3 0.96 1.06 -0.10
Duke Comes Through: Check out the video above for highlights from Duke Keith, from TWCSportsEP, and commentary on UTEP's win over Tulane. Duke caught the Stone to McCulley dunk that woke us all up in the Game Thread.
Iron Man: Bill Knight has a nice story up on his blog on Julyan Stone's minutes. Stone never comes off the court. Literally.
It's UTEP, Not Texas-El Paso: KVIA comes out of nowhere with an interesting read on UTEP associate athletic director Brian Wickstrom who tried to push some national publications into using "UTEP" instead of "Texas-El Paso" on articles.
Late last year, Brian Wickstrom, UTEP’s senior associate athletic director, wrote a letter to David Henke, president and publisher of USA Today, questioning why the second-largest daily in the country constantly refers to UTEP as "Texas-El Paso." Wickstrom pointed out that ESPN calls the school UTEP. So does the Associated Press. He questioned why UCLA and TCU get to go by their initials and UTEP does not.
UTEP Miners Football
Scheduling Note: The Spring Game for UTEP football has been scheduled for April 30, 2011.
Did Kappy Break a Recruiting Story? Steve Kaplowitz of KROD writes a column for Whats Up! El Paso. He recently wrote about future UTEP QB Nick Lamaison and notes that his teammate, receiver Mike Edwards committed to UTEP. I haven't seen any confirmation elsewhere that Edwards committed. We'll follow it and see if Kaplowitz was correct.
Coach Price might get more good news on National Signing Day, which is Feb. 2. Wide receiver Mike Edwards and offensive lineman James "Frosty" Martin have both verbally committed to the Miners, and their presence would bolster the offense.
The Movement: UTEP students are protesting against the school's decision to not celebrate Cesar Chavez Day.
C-USA Insider: Check out Eric Bailey's C-USA Insider. Bailey is one of the few C-USA beat writers who makes the effort to try and give his readers a view of the entire league.
The Mag: The guys over at MI have launched an online magazine covering UTEP sports. I'll admit I don't have the time to cover womens softball or womens hoops. The Rush focuses on Mens Hoops, Football, and we will highlight the other sports when we can. This mag tends to have a lot of content on the non-marquee sports, so check it out.
Go Da'Mon! Note that 10 C-USA players will play in the Super Bowl. Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith, UTEP's former safety, is on the Steelers practice squad. For the full list,click here.
THE SCHEDULE (All times CST)
2:00 pm: SMU Mustangs at Rice Owls
4:00 pm: Tulane Green Wave at Southern Miss. Golden Eagles
5:00 pm: Houston Cougars at East Carolina Pirates
6:00 pm: Memphis Tigers at Marshall Thundering Herd, UAB Blazers at Central Florida Knights (CSS)
7:05 pm: UTEP Miners at Tulsa Golden Hurricane (CBS College Sports)
For more on UTEP"s 2011 recruiting class, check out Miner Rush's Recruiting Big Board.
18 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Good Stuff A-Mac
And I hope Kappy is right. It’s be nice for our possible starting QB to have not only a familiar face blocking for him, but also catching his passes. Everyone knows how tough it is for QBs and receivers to build chemistry so it’ll be nice for them to already have that established…I like that we want to be called UTEP, I mean Texas-El Paso doesn’t bother me, but we are UTEP….That’d be awesome if Da’Mon gets a ring out there with the steelers, even if he hasn’t necessarily produces. That’s awesome…
Last, my comment from the updated RPI…..We’re nearing the top 50
CBS Sports RPI has us at no. 53 today, and ESPN has us at no. 54, Memphis is up to 36 on ESPN and 35 on CBS, UAB is 47th in both. Now is definitely not time to start losing. WE NEED to win at Tulsa….and it wouldn’t hurt if some teams on our schedule picked up some wins to improve their RPI. Michigan needs to keep winning after their win at MSU last night, Air Force needs to win some games, Pacific needs to get into the top 150, they’re around 160 right now. More than anything though we just need to keep winning….one other thing. Today ECU is 114th in ESPN’s RPI. If they make it into the top 100, all 6 in the eastern division of C-USA will be in the top 100.
More RPI....RealtimeRPI.com
table.tableizer-table {border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;} .tableizer-table td {padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc;}
.tableizer-table th {background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;}
Memphis35↑↑ UAB46↑ UTEP52↑↑ UCF64↑ So Miss67↑↑ Marshall82↓ ECU124↓ Tulsa136↓↓ Rice165↓ Houston190↓ Tulane212↑↑ SMU237↑↑
Tried to post a table...obviously didn't work
But you’ve got the team, then current RPI, then current RPI movement.
Thanks! Tulsa game not on All-Access... Alternative for video?
Great write up!
I have a UTEP All-Access pass to watch their games since I live outside of EP.
It’s really annoying that CBS All-Access doesn’t include CBS College Sports games. Does anyone know of an alternative solution to watch the miners? Otherwise it’s the radio…
I'll let you know in the morning if there
is a live feed. Welcome to the Rush!
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
A few things...
Michigan, wow did we need that, these guys were driving me crazy because they were in so many games and finally got one, their rpi jumped 17 freaking spots to 73! This RPI thing is nuts, but again, lets just keep winning and hopefully everything will take care of itself.
Barbee, I realize many people didnt like the guy for whatever reasons, but he was a heck of a recruiter, not such a great x’s and o’s guy though. Last year’s team may have been one of the most talented in UTEP history. Think about it…3 out of our 5 starters from last year’s team are/were considered legitimate NBA prospects…Caracter is already there, Arnett has been on the NBA radar for a few years and Julyan is rising up fast..add RC to being one of the most electrfying guards in UTEP history and you have a hell of a team. He won more games every year he was here and gave us our first outright conf title in like 20 years. He deserved the payday and I dont think he regrets anything because he has a plan in place and he will have time to build at a place like Auburn. I love CTF for us now, but u can’t take away what Barbee did for us during his time in EP. But don’t get me started on Doc Sadler, I can’t stand that guy for leaving us in the shape he did when Billy Clyde left. Nebraska sux!
About Barbee
In reality I dont think he did any more than what billy or doc did, one NCAA apperance and gone. Before the Coach Barbee Invitaitional was created it was either NIT or NCAA. Take away the pay for play “tournament games” and his resume is not that impressive 14-17, 19-13, 19-12, 26-7. It just took him longer than the others 4 yrs instead of 2.
brian is right about being called utep...
It’s like the national media is angry at us and has to call us by our full name—equivalent to our mother calling us by our full name when theyre angry…if we are texas-el paso then when does texas-austin play?
by MinerManiax on Jan 28, 2011 9:32 PM MST via mobile reply actions
we should pull an ochocinco
And change our name legally then they have no choice but to call us utep.
by MinerManiax on Jan 28, 2011 9:35 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
Fully agree-UTEP is the name
i wonder if the UT system is somehow involved in this- I don’t see why the school cAnt call their own shot any go with UTEP.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
First...
Welcome DavidBB to ‘The Rush’, it’s always great to see new posters. It’s cool to see Miner Nation growing in the social forum by leaps and bounds!
Next, I found the blurb on Basketball Prospectus very interesting. That’s what I call an intangible that isn’t necessarily seen in the boxscore that tells a lot about what we have become and what CTF employs. That’s goos stuff!
Speaking of coaches my hats off to Coach Barbee for all he did while here. I don’t blame him one bit for going after the big pay check…..glad he did! That’s all I’ll say about that.
Here’s hoping Kappy’s crystal ball is calibrated and reading accurate.
Kudos to the staff at Miner Rush for always taking the high road and continuing to plug all things UTEP regardless of it’s affiliation e.g. Miner Illustrated, TWCSportsEP, etc…
Finally, speaking of all things UTEP, may the success of “Texas – El Paso” continue to mirror the success of UTEP.
Last stroke: Here’s to MinerMike (3rd person reference) being able to watch tonights game in HD on CBSCS and being able to take part in the open thread at the same time. I hate having to watch the game online and not being readily able to take part in thread. Call me a purist!
Thanks Mike
I hope Kappy was right too- Edwards would more than make up for the Lovett Gibson loss and we’d still have Freytag in the mix for 2012. It would be a nice scenario.
THe Basketball Prospectus stuff is awesome- shows how UTEP is using defense to slow people down and play the game at their pace. I will keep Miner fans apprised of it in future weeks.
As for Barbee- I didn’t mean to slam him. Hey, Auburn offered huge, huge money. I dont blame him for taking it. I do think he would have been better served to stay in EP (considering the seniors he’d have this year) and hope for a job at a basketball school this coming spring. But, I’m not complaining. I love CTF and I think it ended up working out in our favor in the long run because hopefully CTF will be around for the long haul (stability, at last!).
As for linking- I have no problem linking to other sites- If there’s good content out there I’ll bring attention to it- especially if it leads to an interesting discussion here. I think the Rush has become a “Hub” so to speak for all things MinerNation and I think thats reflected in the growth we’ve been lucky enough to have!
BTW our one year anniversary is coming up in mid-February. I’m going to have a “birthday” post with some numbers and notes on our first year- I’ve been blown away by the response we’ve had.
Building The Miner Nation.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
Last Year at this time!!!
It was Saturday 1-30-2010 The UTEP Miners were 14-5 (5-1) high fly just a week ago we had gone into Memphis and done the unthinkable snapped their 64 conference game winning streak. This week thoug UTEP entered into a sold out Bartow Arena to face #24 UAB 18-2 (6-0). 40 minutes was not enough to settle this match. after 2 OT we walked with a 74-65 win. Tulsa sounds easy compared to last year.
An the rest was history!
True that- hoping to see UTEP get onto another tear like they did last year.
Axes Up. Miner Rush - For UTEP Miners Fans
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Miner Rush
Related FanShots on Miner Rush
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
