UTEP Athletic Director Jim Senter remains committed to Conference USA despite teams leaving

EL PASO, Texas - While the rest of the college sports landscape continues to change, UTEP is committed to its current conference.

Monday, news broke that six C-USA schools would be leaving the conference to join the American Athletic Conference.

Those schools are Rice, North Texas, UT-San Antonio, Florida Atlantic, Charlotte, and UAB.

When that move is made official by the AAC, C-USA will be left with just 8 teams in the conference, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Florida International, Southern Miss, Old Dominion, Marshall, Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee.

That all can still change as the Sun Belt Conference has expressed interest in three of the remaining C-USA schools, according to reports.

The schools looking at possibly going to the Sun Belt are Southern Miss, Marshall, and Old Dominion.

Wednesday, UTEP's Director of Athletics Jim Senter remained steadfast on his commitment to Conference USA.

Senter's official statement is attached below:

"The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a proud member of Conference USA. 

Regardless of our conference membership, our commitment does not waiver.  We aspire to compete for and win championships! 

UTEP boasts a proud Athletics tradition with 21 national championships and 82 conference championships. 

The success has continued as a member of Conference USA, with our sports programs combining to capture 24 league crowns. 

We can't be more excited about the future of Miner Athletics.  

Our football team is one of only 17 in the FBS, and two in C-USA, to achieve bowl eligibility seven weeks into the season.  

Our volleyball team is enjoying a record-breaking campaign.  

Our men's basketball team is launching a thrilling new era under coach Joe Golding, and our women's basketball team achieved a top-two seed at last year's Conference USA Championship. 

Off the playing field, we also set school records earlier this year with 202 of our student-athletes making the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll, and 71 earning C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medals with GPA's of 3.75 or better. 

Our Athletics growth mirrors that of our prestigious University.  

We are America's Leading Hispanic-Serving University, and rank among the top five percent of research institutions in the country.  

We are a top tier public research university deeply committed to providing access to exceptional education. We look forward to continuing to achieve excellence, competing for and winning Conference USA championships in front of our passionate fans."

- Jim Senter
Vice President & Director of Athletics
University of Texas at El Paso