UTEP is located 2.6 miles from the Mexican Border and is a quick 7 minute drive once off campus.
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Once a member of the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, UTEP now finds itself as a member of Conference-USA.
Little does most sports readers know, but UTEP is tied for 10th in the nation in Men’s Sports Division 1 Championships. However, the schools greatest championship doesn’t fall under the schools current name.
Formerly known as Texas Western, in 1966 the University won a Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship against the University of Kentucky in a game which is seen as one of the biggest civil rights changing movements in sports.
The 1966 basketball team was the first ever Men’s basketball team to win a national championship with 5 African-American starters, a feat unheard of at the time.
The other championships come from the Men’s Track and Field program. UTEP holds 7 Cross Country championships, 7 Men’s Indoor Track and Field championships and 6 Men’s Outdoor Track and Field championships.
UTEP’s Track and Field teams also put 12 athletes in the 2008 Olympics, which is impressive because all the athletes came from out of the country.
It appears that being located so close to the border does actually help draw in talented athletes from around the world.
However, has all of the championship success translated to the football team?
Not yet.
Head coach Mike Price, the one time coach at Alabama and Washington State, hasn’t been able to find the winning ways in El Paso after his two bowl campaigns in 2004 and 2005. UTEP has an overall record of 18-30 since.
But things may be pointing in the right direction. Last season, Price’s team knocked off the 12th ranked Houston Cougars in a Saturday night showdown.
The main reason behind that may have been senior to- be quarterback Trevor Vittatoe, who threw for 276 yards and two TD’s in the contest.
Vittatoe has been a three-year starter for the team and has passed for 9,683 yards and 75 TD’s in his career. Numbers like that are good enough to rank him second in active FBS football in career passing yards.
Will Vittatioe be able to get UTEP to a bowl game the season and find some success for the first time in years?
You better think so; time is due for the unknown border town.
So cheers to you today, the fans of El Paso, your time is coming. But as for now, drink safely please.
- Andrew Ivins
Andrew Ivins can be contacted at andrewrivins@gmail.com
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