UTEP supporters excited for transition to Mountain West Conference

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The University of Texas at El Paso today has accepted a formal invitation to join the Mountain West Conference, according to the University and Conference.

In a press release UTEP President Heather Wilson said, “Joining the Mountain West Conference will bring us back into competition with historic rivals in the west, there’s no doubt this will be better for our student-athletes, our fans, and for El Paso.”

UTEP has told Conference USA that it will transition effective July 1, 2026 and will play in Mountain West Conference games starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

The addition of the Miners will give the Mountain West seven full-time members, along with UNLV, San Jose State, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico and Air Force.

The Mountain West formed in 1998, and while many of UTEP's long time rivals went to the new conference, the Miners were left out.

Soon, they'll get to face off against their old friends and foes once again.

"The rivalries are instantly there again. I mean, when we were in C-USA, not only was it changing constantly, we had no affiliation with any, especially when the Texas schools left," said Edward Davis, a longtime UTEP supporter.

"This is huge. This is monumental," said Kevin Lovell, former KVIA general manager and sportscaster. "This is the biggest thing that's happened at UTEP in the athletic department, in my opinion, since the Miners making the Sweet 16 in the early 90s."

Supporters say the decision could bring more fans and funding to the school's athletic department.

"There is no school with more potential to really make money than UTEP," said Steve Kaplowitz, a radio host at 600 ESPN El Paso. "The problem is they just haven't been able to win, so they haven't been able to generate the kind of revenue that they're capable of."

"I think it will lead to better attendance. It's going to create fan enthusiasm," Lovell added. "We still have a couple years to go, but to know it's coming--it's like Christmas, you know it's going to be good. It's going to be here before long."

With new fan engagement, however, comes an expectation to succeed.

"They have to start winning in basketball, winning in football," Kaplowitz said. "If they're able to turn those things around, with the new schools coming in and all the rivalries back, I feel like again, UTEP could start going to heights that we just haven't seen in the last 20 years."