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The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, when they joined Rice, Tulsa, and SMU in leaving the WAC for
Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...
. The UTEP Miners are best known as the first team in Texas to win an NCAA Men's Basketball Championship (and only team in Texas to be national champions until Baylor’s victory in the 2021 tournament). UTEP's colors are orange and blue and the mascot is a miner named
Paydirt Pete Paydirt Pete is the current mascot of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He is a student dressed as a prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * '' Lunar ...
.


Sports sponsored


Football

Playing their first game in 1914, the UTEP Miners football team currently competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The team plays its games in the
Sun Bowl Stadium The Sun Bowl is an outdoor football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. It is home to the UTEP Miners of Conference USA, and the late December college football bowl game, the Sun Bowl. Th ...
, and head coach
Mike Price Michael Bruce Price (born April 6, 1946) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach at Weber State College from 1981 to 1988, Washington State University from 1989 to 2002, and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 2004 ...
retired from his 9th and final season at UTEP in 2012.


Traveling trophies

The winner of the UTEP vs. New Mexico State University football game receives a pair of traveling trophies: The Silver Spade and The Brass Spittoon. The first spade used for this purpose was an old prospector's shovel dug up from an abandoned mine in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1947. This was the symbol of victory, and the spade was given to the winner of the football game between the Miners and Aggies each year. The idea of the present Silver Spade was from UTEP student Don Henderson, the student association president and now a very successful El Paso businessman and former mayor of the city. In 1955 Henderson secured the present spade and each year the score of the game is engraved on the blade. Perhaps the idea behind the spade is the fact that at the time the prospector's spade was uncovered, both schools' major field of study had use for the tool, mining and metallurgy for the College of Mines and agriculture at then New Mexico A&M. The Brass Spittoon, officially known as the Mayor's Cup, came into existence in 1982 when the mayors of the two cities; Jonathan Rogers of El Paso, and David Steinberg of Las Cruces decided to present another traveling trophy to the winner of the UTEP vs New Mexico State University game. This game is more commonly known as " The Battle of I-10". UTEP was a member of the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, from 1941-1961. The football team won a conference championship in 1956.


Men's basketball


1966 Texas Western basketball team

As Texas Western, the Miners won the
1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national men's basketball champion of the NCAA University Division, now Division I. It began on March  ...
. The 72–65 victory over Kentucky at The University of Maryland's Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland is considered one of the most important games in the history of college basketball. It marked the first time that a team started 5 African-American players in a title game. Contrary to popular belief, this game was not an "upset" since Kentucky and Texas Western entered the game ranked #1 and #2 respectively, with each team having only one loss. At this time, Kentucky had no African-American players (though Adolph Rupp gave formal scholarship offers to black players as early as 1964, it was not until Tom Payne in 1971 that a black player finally joined the Wildcats). The impact of the game was pivotal primarily because it occurred during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The title team has been chronicled throughout the American media, including the books ''Basketball's Biggest Upset'' by Ray Sanchez and ''When the Walls Came Tumbling Down'' by Frank Fitzpatrick, and the 2006 Disney movie, '' Glory Road''. The team was inducted into the
Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
.


Cross Country

The UTEP Miners' men's cross country team has won 7 national cross country championships, the most recent of which came in 1981 and including a four-year streak of national championships from 1978-1981. They have qualified for 18 national championships, finishing first 7 times, second twice, third twice, and fifth once. They were originally awarded the 1983 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship title, but it was later revoked amid allegations of slush fund payments to runners. The Miners' men's and women's cross country teams have been coached since 2003 by former professional athlete and Olympic 800 meter gold medalist Paul Ereng. The men's team has had three individual national champions:
Suleiman Nyambui Suleiman Nyambui (born February 13, 1953) is a former track athlete from Tanzania who specialized in various long-distance disciplines. Nyambui won the bronze medal at the 1978 All-Africa Games, the silver medal in 5000 metres at the 1980 Summer ...
in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...
,
Matthews Motshwarateu Matthews Motshwarateu (1958–2001) was a South African track, cross country, and road runner. In 1978 Matthews Motshwarateu won the South African 5000m championship, setting a new South African record for the event. He retained his title the fol ...
in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, and
Zakarie Barie Zakariah Barie (born 29 May 1953) is a retired Tanzanian long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres. He won the silver medal at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, finished thirteenth at the 1984 Olympic Games. He also competed at the 1 ...
in
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
. The Miners' women's cross country team earned a trip to the NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Championships every year from 1987-2009, finishing as high as 5th in
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
. The women's team has not had an individual champion.


Rifle

In June 2013, the Miners' rifle team became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference.


NCAA Division I national championships

UTEP's sports programs have won a total of 21 NCAA Division I national championships. UTEP is currently tied for 10th overall among schools in Men's Sports Division I championships. * Men's basketball: 1 (1966) * Men's cross country: 7 (1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981) * Men's indoor track & field: 7 (1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982) * Men's outdoor track & field: 6 (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)


2008 Olympics

UTEP students and alumni participated in track and field events.


Venues

UTEP owns the two largest stadiums in El Paso: *
Sun Bowl Stadium The Sun Bowl is an outdoor football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. It is home to the UTEP Miners of Conference USA, and the late December college football bowl game, the Sun Bowl. Th ...
, seating capacity 51,500, opened its doors in 1963 and is currently the home to the UTEP football team and to the annual
Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...
game. * Don Haskins Center, seating capacity 12,000, was built in 1976 and is primarily used by the men's and women's basketball teams. *
University Field (UTEP) University Field is the on-campus soccer stadium at the University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the ...
, seating capacity 500, was built in 1991 and hosts the women's soccer team. * Kidd Field, former home to the Miners football team and current home of the track and field teams.


References


External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, UTEP Miners, color=white , list = {{Conference USA navbox {{Patriot Rifle Conference navbox {{Texas sports