A "Minor" Dig v6

by asalom on Aug 11, 2011 3:53 PM MDT

With Camp Socorro in full swing, and Miner Mania just around the corner, let's go ahead and take a look at everything that is anything around the Miner Nation here in mini dig no. 6.

Miner Coach Tim Floyd to enter Iowa State Hall of Fame -

UTEP Miner Men's basketball coach Tim Floyd has been selected as one of five individuals that will be enshrined into the Iowa State HOF on September 2nd. CTF is the only ISU coach to lead the Cyclones to three straight NCAA tournament appearances, and he left ISU with the highest winning percentage in school history at .633. Congratulations to Coach Floyd.

Still Uncertain at QB Position -

Camp Socorro is now in day 6, and the season opener in the Sun Bowl against Stony Brook is only 23 days away, but still there is no definitive word out of camp as to who will be the starting quarterback. It is widely assumed that JC transfer Nick Lamaison will take the reigns, but redshirt freshman Javia Hall, sophomore Carson Meger, and senior Tate Smith have all played well, and are certainly staking their claim as well. It is a bit unsettling to know that we are less than a month away from opening the season and still have no starting QB, but to see all these guys playing well assures that whoever gets the job will be at the top of their game.

Season Tickets for Bronze Section Set at $75 for only one more day -

As most already know the UTEP athletics department ran a special where they would set the price of bronze section season tickets ($110) at whatever the low temperature was on August the 6th. The low temperature happened to be 75 degrees, and thus season tickets are available for $75 a piece through tomorrow. Get them while you still can.

Former Miner Arnett Moultrie Excelling at Mississippi St -

I've got to admit that it is an absolute shame that we couldn't hold on to Arnett Moultrie. He certainly would've been huge last year, and possibly for another year as well. But, he's long gone and after sitting out a year due to transfer rules he is now ready to get back to basketball in his new home in the SEC. The Mississippi St Bulldogs are currently overseas playing a series of five exhibition games against national and all star teams from around Europe. In the first three games, Moultrie has posted two double doubles going for 14 and 14 in game one, and 19 and 14 in game three, to go along with 16 points in game two. If this guy can keep his head in the right place and continue to train hard, he will certainly be a first round draft pick come next June. Good Luck to Arnett.

Mini Recruiting Update -

CTF and the Miner basketball team have offered 4 star athlete Winston Shepard a scholarship. Shepard is 6-8 205lb SF and is currently ranked as the 20th best SF in the 2012 class, and is ranked 69th in the ESPNU top 100 players in the 2012 class. Shepard has also received offers from San Diego St, Oklahoma St, Memphis, Kansas, Texas, and Texas A&M. Its still unclear where the Miners stand in Shepard's mind.

CMP and UTEP football have offered 3 star athlete Jordan Smith a scholarship as well. Smith is a 6-5 225lb TE from Waco, TX, and he is currently ranked the 33rd best TE in the nation by ESPN. ESPN speaks highly of him as a versatile TE, and he could certainly be used in the Miner offense. TE is probably the thinnest of all positions coming into this season so it would certainly be nice to sign a solid TE for next year. Smith has also been offered by Air Force, Cincinnati, and Kansas, with the Jayhawks possibly being the current frontrunner.

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Comments

Off topic a bit:

but it appears A&M is definitely going to the SEC, UH is being considered as a viable candidate for the BIG 12, assuming it even stays together.

by DFWMiner on Aug 12, 2011 7:18 PM MDT reply actions

That's the word

To be honest, If A&M is gone then so is Texas. They’ll more than likely be independent in football and joing the Pac-12 in other sports or something like that. Then if Texas is gone, OU will likely be gone also. Once those three are gone, the league will likely be disbanded. It’d be nice to see a league form with the likes of UTEP, SMU, Rice, Houston, Tulsa, Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas, K State, Oklahoma St, and maybe like New Mexico and UNLV or maybe even try to bring NMSU up instead of UNLV.

Everyone make sure to check out my new sports blog called The Sports Loop at www.inthesportsloop.com. Hopefully it give you all something to talk about until Miner athletics get back into full swing. Let me know what you think.

by asalom on Aug 12, 2011 11:14 PM MDT up reply actions

I'd much rather see

A merger between C-USA, and the remaining BIG XII than MWC-CUSA.

by asalom on Aug 12, 2011 11:22 PM MDT up reply actions

if big 12 breaks up

Mwc will make a move for kansas kansas st n texas tech. C usa should try n pick up leftovers. baylor could be a replacement for ucf assuming florida st goes sec n acc picks up ucf

by el javi on Aug 13, 2011 8:46 AM MDT via mobile reply actions

You're probably right

But the MWC just isn’t the same without BYU and UTAH. I mean sure they’ve got Boise now, but they’ve lost too much. They’re basically just half WAC half MWC. I’m not so sure that schools like tech, and the kansas or oklahoma schools would want to play in the MWC instead of C-USA.

by asalom on Aug 13, 2011 11:52 AM MDT up reply actions

I hate to keep this guessing game/rumor mill going but I also read a report saying the Big East...

would offer Kansas, KState and Iowa St bids. That would get them up to 20 in BBall which is insane, but adding Kansas alone makes it worth it IMO, and get them to 12 in football, remember TCU is slated to join next season.

A few things to keep in mind is there is no way OU goes anywhere without Okla State so I can see those two schools along with Texas Tech joining the Pac-12, bringing them up to 15. Question then becomes who is the 16th team? BYU or Baylor have been brought up, but I was under the impression the Pac-12 didn’t want those schools because of their strong religious ties. Or what about OU or Okla State goin to the Big-10, makes sense from a regional point of view.

Where does this leave us and CUSA? I get the feeling if the ACC loses Clemson and Fla State, they will most likely go after UCF, ECU, Memphis and even USF, who is currently in the Big East, but IMO would love to be in Miami’s conf. Big East could then even take Houston to replace USF.

I think it would then be imperative the MWC and CUSA join…the league would look similar to this…

AFA, Wyoming, Colo State, UNM, SDSU, UNLV, Wyoming, Nevada, Fresno St., Hawaii,

UTEP, SMU, Rice, Baylor, Houston, Tulsa…..USM, Tulane, UAB, Marshall….

That’s a 20 team lge, I would hope we would still figure in something like this because if we don’t then get ready to be back in the WAC. I also wouldnt mind the 5 texas schools and Tulsa going to the MWC forming a 16 team lge, OK sorry this was long, i think my head just exploded.

by DFWMiner on Aug 13, 2011 5:52 PM MDT reply actions

Here's another take...

College Football 2014 – How The Leagues Will Look by Pete Fiutak of CollegeFootballNews.com puts the following out there for digestion:

Big 12 – What It Is
Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

The 2014 Version Will Probably Be …
Baylor, Colorado State, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Rice, Southern Miss, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP

Texas A&M will start to topple the dominoes. The Aggies will leave for the SEC, and then Oklahoma will listen to Bob Stoops, who’s livid about Texas having its own TV network, and take off to the Pac-12 along with Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Kansas. The Big 12 will scramble by taking as many Texas schools as it can grab from Conference USA in an attempt to give Texas cannon fodder for the Longhorn Network, but it won’t work. Texas won’t want to be bogged down with a Conference USA schedule and will go the independent route to schedule Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech on a yearly basis, while also getting its share of other Texas schools like Houston and Rice. The Big 12 will try to expand a bit with Colorado State, Tulsa, and Southern Miss, but the power will be in the Lone Star State.

by MinerMike on Aug 13, 2011 7:23 PM MDT reply actions

Why would Colo State leave the MWC? that makes no sense plus he said Memphis would still be in CUSA after the major shift?

no way that happens and no way we would ever be in the Big-12…probably a new version of the SWC, plus he only has 6 teams in the WAC, a league can’t exist with less than 8 teams.

by DFWMiner on Aug 14, 2011 4:25 PM MDT up reply actions

Just for the record

Colorado St has MUCH to gain by joining a conference like the Big 12, even if it were a bit watered down. The MWC just isn’t as strong as it would’ve been had BYU and UTAH were still around. Also, I don’t think UTEP being invited to the Big 12 would be so farfetched. If it were today, there’s no chance, but if we can get going in football, we would be a very viable candidate to join such a conference.

by asalom on Aug 14, 2011 7:24 PM MDT up reply actions

Well we don't have to worry about anything, for now

SEC IS NOT EXTENDING INVITATION. That’s the news out of the SEC committee meeting. Guess for whatever reason they weren’t as interested in Texas A&M, as A&M was in them. Anyway, the college sports landscape will remain the same, for now. We all know we’ll be back in the same boat in a year or two.

by asalom on Aug 14, 2011 7:18 PM MDT reply actions