Favorite College Sports Highlight - UTEP

When the opportunity to write a post on my favorite college sports highlight was presented to me, I immediately thought of a number of different plays and games. As a UTEP fan, my mind kept going back to the days of the Old WAC. More than that, it kept going back to games with one of our fiercest rivals in the WAC, the BYU Cougars.

First there was 1985. In that year, the Cougars came into the Sun Bowl as the defending national champs, ranked #7 in the nation. That didn't matter much, as the Miners intercepted Robbie Bosco 4 times, en route to the upset. Also that year, the Miners and Cougars played to triple overtime in basketball, and showed just how heated that rivalry was, when they had "The Fight" near the end of that game.

There was also 1997. In that year, the BYU football team came into El Paso ranked 25th in the nation, and was heavily favored against the Miners. But, a guy named Rocky Perez came into the game for an injured John Rayborn, and the Miners once again upset the Cougars. Really though, the highlight of that game was watching fans not only tear down the goal post, but take it up the stands, toss it over the wall, and onto the mountain. That is one, I will never forget.

But, more than all of that, there's one highlight that I will never get tired of watching. In 1992, the UTEP men's basketball team carried a 5 game win streak into the WAC conference tournament, and beat both host Colorado State, and New Mexico on their way to a championship game against who else...BYU. And in that WAC final, a great game turned into this:

**Video from YouTube, courtesy of user jscorn

Now, of course, if I were a BYU fan, this post would end right there. But, I show that clip, to lead into one of the greatest highlights in UTEP history. That buzzer beating shot, woke up a sleeping giant, and in turn made the 1992 UTEP Miners, one of the best teams that this university has ever seen.

After drawing a 9 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Miners went on to defeat Evansville in the opening round, and earned a matchup with national favorite, Kansas. In my opinion, and because of the great "Voice of the Miners" , this goes down as the best college sports highlight in UTEP history. Check it out:

**Video from YouTube, courtesy of UTEPAthletics

Of course, the Miners' season ended after that amazing win, as they fell to Cincinatti by 2 in the Sweet 16 just days later. That Bearcat team went on to roll Memphis by 31 in the elite 8, but fell in the Final Four, by 4, to a Michigan team led by some group of guys they called "The Fab Five"???

Now, a "favorite highlight" in college sports is completely subjective, but that's exactly the beauty of it. No matter where you're from, who you are a fan of, or what sport you love, there are always those highlights that will rile up every emotion in your body...So, what's your all time favorite college sports highlight?