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It's official: UTEP bolts WAC for C-USA
From Staff and Associated Press Reports
West Texas barbecued beef
challenges Eastern N.C. barbecued pork. Despite being at opposite ends of
three time zones, yes, the twain shall meet.
After 36 years in the Western
Athletic Conference, Texas-El Paso on Friday
followed through as expected and accepted an offer
to join Conference USA.
UTEP will officially change
conferences on July 1, 2005. The school joins Tulsa, Rice and Southern
Methodist, all former WAC members that previously accepted offers to join
C-USA.
"We look forward to continuing
to compete in the Dallas and Houston areas, where there are large
concentrations of UTEP alumni who have enjoyed following our teams," said
UTEP President Diana Natalicio.
UTEP athletic director Bob
Stull said the move will put the school in a more stable conference and
bolster the Miners' recruiting in Texas, where it expends the majority of
its efforts.
The Miners will likely be a
part of a six-team western division with their departing WAC compatriots as
well as Houston and Tulane.
C-USA's eastern division � the
football champion of which might play its western counterpart in a lucrative
annual championship game � appears destined to include current members East
Carolina, Memphis, UAB and Southern Mississippi along with incoming
Mid-American Conference refugees Central Florida and Marshall.
Stull said UTEP will pay $1
million into a C-USA reserve account and $200,000 per year for the next five
years out of its conference revenues as an entry fee. UTEP also will forfeit
about $600,000 in WAC revenues for next year. However, Stull said the annual
revenues from C-USA are expected to be greater than in the WAC.
"We'll probably be able to
break even over those five years," Stull said.
C-USA Commissioner Britton
Banowsky said UTEP was asked to join because of its support for the athletic
program, which includes a recent investment in a $9 million training
facility and good attendance at football and basketball games.
UTEP joined the WAC in
September 1967, five years after the conference was formed. The membership
offer came one year after the Miners won the NCAA basketball championship
under Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins.
The WAC took a serious hit in
June 1999, when Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, UNLV, New Mexico, San Diego
State, Utah and Wyoming withdrew to form the Mountain West Conference. The
possibility still exists that other WAC members will join the Mountain West
should it decide to expand.
In 2001, Texas Christian left
the WAC for C-USA. However, TCU recently accepted an offer from the Mountain
West to become its ninth member.
In late 2003, shortly after
C-USA lost five schools � Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette and
South Florida to the Big East � the conference added Central Florida,
Marshall, Rice, SMU and Tulsa. Those five schools also officially become
part of C-USA on July 1, 2005.
Copyright 2004
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bonesville.net
contributed to this report.
02/23/2007 10:49:22 AM
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