Sources: Mountain West in deep talks to add UTEP
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
The Mountain West is in deep discussions about adding UTEP as a full member, sources told ESPN, and there’s mutual interest between the sides.
A deal has yet to be finalized, per ESPN sources, but an answer on UTEP joining the league is expected soon.
The potential addition of UTEP has loomed as an obvious target for the league from both a geography and tradition standpoint. The school would give the Mountain West an addition in Texas as the league rebuilds after five schools announced they were leaving for the Pac-12.
The addition of UTEP would give the league seven full-time members — joining UNLV, San Jose State, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico and Air Force. The Mountain West needs to build to eight members to become a formal conference. (Hawaii remains a football-only member.)
The Mountain West is seeking to get to eight members, the minimum for a league, after Utah State, Boise State, San Jose State, San Diego State and Fresno State announced their departures.
The Mountain West has also issued a verbal offer to Texas State in recent days, according to sources. No clarity or timeline has emerged on Texas State’s decision. The Pac-12 has also expressed interest in Texas State, according to ESPN sources.
In UTEP, the Mountain West will get a school with a strong football and basketball lineage. UTEP’s football opener against Southern Utah drew 41,633 fans to the Sun Bowl.
In football, UTEP has reached 15 bowl games, and its former coaches include everyone from Bum Phillips to Mike Price. UTEP is currently in Conference USA, where it has resided since 2005, when it jumped over from the WAC.
UTEP’s basketball history is even stronger, as it has appeared in 17 NCAA tournaments and won the national championship in 1966, when the school was known as Texas Western. The Miners were the first team with a starting five of all African American players to win the national title. The coach of that team, Don Haskins, is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
UTEP has a strong fan base, and El Paso, Texas, has a population of nearly 679,000, which makes it one of the top 25 most populated cities in the United States.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are rolling. The Carolina Hurricanes are reeling.
Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves, and the Panthers beat the Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
Gustav Forsling and Matthew Tkachuk also scored in another tone-setting opening 20 minutes for the Panthers, while Carter Verhaeghe had three assists in the win.
“It might have been natural for us to take a little bit to get going tonight, and it was the exact opposite,” said Tkachuk, whose putaway off the feed from Verhaeghe at the crease marked his first goal since Game 3 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. “It was an unreal start from us. The goals aside, just the way we played in the first period was as good as it gets. Yeah, that’s just a hell of a road trip.”
Florida had already ripped home-ice advantage away Tuesday night with a 5-2 win, the opener in a rematch of the 2023 conference finals swept by the Panthers with four one-goal wins. Florida tightened its grip on the series with this one and now heads back south to host Game 3 on Saturday night.
Bennett scored a second time by skating in to clean up an attempt at the right post in the final minute of the second period to make it 4-0, ending a long shift in Carolina’s end prolonged by Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns being stuck on the ice after breaking his stick. Aleksander Barkov added a goal midway through the third as punctuation.
Bobrovsky had his third shutout of the playoffs this year and the sixth of his career, with Florida’s defense smothering a Carolina team that typically peppers the net with shots but found little daylight.
Florida has won four straight road games by a combined score of 22-4, this time sending Hurricanes fans fleeing for the exits early.
“It’s fun when you’re on the road and it goes quiet,” Verhaeghe said. “It feels like we’re doing our job.”
It wasn’t all great news for Florida. Veteran forward Sam Reinhart was knocked from the game in the first period after taking a hit from Sebastian Aho in the left leg, causing Reinhart’s knee to bend awkwardly.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after the game that Reinhart would be evaluated Friday and that there would be no update on Reinhart’s status until Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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