UTEP to Houston Bowl.

[Bigdog13]

Could've been us. Either way more bowls would have been open to us and we blew it.

UTEP will play in Houston Bowl


By Matthew Aguilar
El Paso Times

Houston, you have a bowl team.

Miner football fans, you have a postseason destination.

UTEP athletic director Bob Stull informed the team during today's practice that the Miners have accepted an invitation to play in the Houston Bowl. The Miners will face one of three Big 12 opponents at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 29 at Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans.

Iowa State appears to be the leading candidate to play UTEP, with Nebraska and Oklahoma State also possibilities.

"It's great for the team; it's a perfect bowl for us," Miners head coach Mike Price said. "It's a perfect bowl for recruiting. We're grateful for the Houston Bowl wanting us and grateful to the WAC, especially (commissioner) Karl Benson."

The Miners' destination comes as somewhat of a surprise. UTEP was projected as a possible participant in many bowl games, including the Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 23), the Fort Worth Bowl (Dec. 23), and the three bowls with WAC tie-ins - the MPC Computers Bowl on Dec. 27 in Boise, Idaho, the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 in Honolulu and the Silicon Valley Classic on Dec. 29 in San Jose, Calif.

But no projections had UTEP going to the Houston Bowl. The five bowls considered candidates for UTEP all had $750,000 payouts per team. The Houston Bowl pays $1.1 million per team.

Price has garnered national attention for UTEP by guiding a turnaround for the 8-2 Miners, who were just 2-11 last year and won only six games combined during Gary Nord's final three years coaching the team (2001-03).

Stull said the date, the opponent and the ability to draw fans from El Paso, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio were the deciding factors.

"Everybody would prefer us to wait until things cleared up but, quite frankly, no matter what happened over the weekend, we felt it was the best bowl game for us," he said. "Whether Boise State ended up in the BCS, I talked to six different bowl games the last two days. There were all kinds of potential things that could have happened.

"But coach Price and (UTEP president) Diana Natalicio thought our best situation for our fans and for us was Houston. For us to wait longer when we had the opportunity to grab it now didn't make sense. For us, it wasn't going to change. Our goal and our thought process was not going to change. They were very excited about us and wanted to move forward. We wanted to seize that opportunity."

A win Saturday in the regular-season finale at Tulsa will give UTEP a nine-win season for the first time since 1988.

"I'm pumped about the location; I'm pumped about the fans and for the guys on the team," said middle linebacker and native El Pasoan Robert Rodriguez. "The guys on the team deserve it. We feel like we can go out and play with (the Big 12). We want to show (these Big 12 schools) that they made a mistake in passing up on some of these guys."

Both Alex Obomese and Godwin Akinduro lived in Houston before playing at UTEP.

"I get to go home," Obomese said. "It's the first time I get to play in front of my family. Personally, I'm excited about playing in Houston." Akinduro said: "It's great. I'll get to show people back home my ability. And going up against a Big 12 team, we'll get to show them what we're made of."

[OmahaDawg]

I said last season we should fire Bick and hire Price and man did I catch some heat for it because of Price's past. I stand by it and still wish Price would have been able to "reabilitate his career and reputation with us.

By the way, my 8 year old keeps asking when the AthDept will clean house and start over. He even knows we have problems. I don't have anymore excuses to tell him. Any help anyone.

[johnnylightnin]

Tell him that life is not fair and it's very rarely about your performance. Life is all about who you know...this fact of life is especially true in Ruston and simple complacent towns like it all over the USA. Tell him that it's not important to try in school, he should go caddy at the local golf club and get to know rich people. Then, despite his qualifications or determination, he'll be successful. Happy Holidays!

[soccer_dawg9]

I guess that means the Hawaii bowl will be open to anyone else, especially if Boise St. goes to the Liberty Bowl or a BCS bowl. Also, if Fresno St. goes to the Silicon Valley, the MPC computers bowl will also be open(two chances for Tech). Sure would have been nice to beat either UTEP or Hawaii now that bowl bids are up for grabs. Don't forget that the SEC should have one open spot because Arkansas will not have 6 wins and South Carolina will not go because of the fight. So many chances, not enough wins.

[nadB]

ah, but we still have a chance to "bask in glory" if jb3 attains his goal --

"...If we can get this game, we would feel very good about going 6-6 and finishing third in the WAC.”

[Bossdawg]

Who goes to the Indy bowl now that the SEC is not going to have 8 eligible teams. I think Troy St. will probably get that bowl. Go Bulldawgs.

[johnnylightnin]

Most predictors are saying it will be Troy St. in the Indy...no predictors are saying Tech will go anywhere. I suppose if N'Western keeps Hawaii from being bowl eligible then we've got a shot. I personally want whatever outcome makes us the most attractive to another conference. After that, I want whatever will rid us of the incompetence of JBIII.

[RealityCheck]

Most predictors are saying it will be Troy St. in the Indy...no predictors are saying Tech will go anywhere. I suppose if N'Western keeps Hawaii from being bowl eligible then we've got a shot.

Tech can't go anywhere even if it beats Rice for the same reason that Northwestern can't go anywhere if it doesn't come from behind to beat Hawai'i. 6-6 teams are NOT bowl-eligible this year. Rignt now there are 57 qualified teams with winning records even after removing Clemson and South Carolina to fill the 56 bowl bids.

[johnnylightnin]

I understand what you're saying, but they were predicting that we would go to bowls before the Boise game...no one predicted that we'd beat Boise, so that means that they were predicting that we'd go to a bowl with 6 wins. There's no way in hell we deserve a bowl, but I'm not sure that it is impossible for us to get one with a 6-6 record. I just haven't seen enough evidence to support that.

[RealityCheck]

I understand what you're saying, but they were predicting that we would go to bowls before the Boise game...no one predicted that we'd beat Boise, so that means that they were predicting that we'd go to a bowl with 6 wins. There's no way in hell we deserve a bowl, but I'm not sure that it is impossible for us to get one with a 6-6 record. I just haven't seen enough evidence to support that.

Those predicting Tech into a bowl before the Boise State game clearly didn't know the rule for this year. All the evidence you need is below from what I posted several days ago in the "Bowl Situation" thread.

----

Here's the official wording from page 10 of the 2004-2005 NCAA Division IA Postseason Football Handbook and it does not include a 6-6 exception as was the case for 2002 and 2003.

Deserving Winning Team

A deserving winning team is defined as one that wins a minimum of six games against Division I-A competition and has a record that includes more wins than losses. [Exception: Once every four years, a Division I-A institution may count a victory against a Division I-AA opponent that has averaged 60 financial aid awards equivalencies in football during the three previous academic years.] Only a conference champion may seek a waiver of these requirements.

Division I-A contests played in Hawai'i are exempt from NCAA legislation limiting a season to 11 games, but this competition does count in the six-win requirement. An institution that participates in an exempt contest, however, must have more wins than losses against Division I-A opponents to be eligible to participate in a bowl game, even if it meets the six-win requirement.

[johnnylightnin]

Good research...I'm convinced. This pleases me because I could see the administration cutting JB a little slack if we got a bowl bid...now I feel free to cheer for Tech against Rice. Come on JO, don't let me down...for the 1000th time.

[DawgFaninHous]

Could the WAC ask for an exemption to the 'more wins than losses' rule for us this year to fill one of the three bolw slots that may go unfilled otherwise? Especially since we will finish third in the conference with a 'W".

Won't they have to do that for Hawaii if they lose next week against Mich St?

[RealityCheck]

Could the WAC ask for an exemption to the 'more wins than losses' rule for us this year to fill one of the three bolw slots that may go unfilled otherwise? Especially since we will finish third in the conference with a 'W".

Won't they have to do that for Hawaii if they lose next week against Mich St?

Exceptions for 6-6 teams in years when the normal regular season is 11 games are only available for conference champions and based on this year conference division champions. Hawai'i must beat Michigan State or it gets to watch the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl from the stands.

For the umpteenth and hopefully last time, there are enough winning teams to fill all of the 56 bowl bids. No 6-6 teams will be bowling this year. End of story.

[dawg80]

Bicknell will argue that his team is bowl eligible. After all, the three BCS losses don't count. Just ask his bosses.