UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso. Informally, the UTEP Miners have also been referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or simply El Paso. After the departure of four members of the Western Athletic Conference including UTEP in 2005, in which all four became members in the same coference, the Miners joined Conference USA as a part of the West Division.The UTEP Miners are best known as the only team in Texas to win a NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. UTEP's colors are Orange and Blue and the mascot is a miner named Paydirt Pete. The athletic director for the Miners is Bob Stull.

Athletics

The University of Texas at El Paso competes with teams in the following sports:

Men's sports: Football Basketball Golf Cross-Country Track & Field Swimming & Diving

Women's sports: Basketball Softball Soccer Cross-Country Track & Field Tennis Swimming & Diving Volleyball

Football

Playing their first game in 1914, the UTEP Miners football team currently compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The team plays its games in the Sun Bowl Stadium, and Mike Price is at the helm for his 5th season at UTEP in 2008.

NCAA Division I National Championships

UTEP's sports programs have won a total of 21 NCAA Division I national championships. UTEP is currently tied for 10th overall among schools in Men's Sports Division I championships.

• Men's Basketball: 1
• Men's Cross country: 7
• Men's Indoor Track & Field: 7
• Men's Outdoor Track & Field: 6

1966 Texas Western basketball team

As Texas Western, the Miners won the 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The 72-65 victory over Kentucky in College Park, Maryland is considered one of the most important in the history of college basketball, as it marked the first time that a team with five African-American starters won a title game. What's more, it came against a Kentucky team (and its coach, Adolph Rupp) that was symbolic of the racist culture of the state and the region, during the period of the struggle for civil rights for blacks.

The title team has been chronicled throughout the American media, including the book When the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Frank Fitzpatrick and the 2006 Disney movie Glory Road.

2008 Olympics

UTEP students and alumni participated in track and field events.

Athlete	Event	Team
Mickael Hanany	high jump
Blessing Okagbare	long jump
Blessing Okagbare Oludamola Osayomi Halimat Ismaila	women's 4x100 meter relay
Oludamola Osayom	100M women
Oludamola Osayom	200M women
Halimat Ismaila	100M women
Churandy Martina	100M men
Churandy Martina	200M men
Ronalds Arajs	200M men
Caiman Douglas	men 4x100 meter relay
Erma-Gene Evans	javelin
Alexandros Papadimitriou	hammer throw men
Henderson Dottin
Fatimoh Muhammed

Traveling Trophies

The winner of the UTEP vs New Mexico State University football game receives a pair of traveling trophies; The Silver Spade and The Brass Spittoon. The first spade used for this purpose was an old prospector's shovel dug up from an abandoned mine in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1947. This was the symbol of victory, and the spade was given to the winner of the football game between the Miners and Aggies each year.

The idea of the present Silver Spade was from UTEP student Don Henderson, the student association president and now a very successful El Paso businessman and former mayor of the city. In 1955 Henderson secured the present spade and each year the score of the game is engraved on the blade.

Perhaps the idea behind the spade is the fact that at the time the prospector's spade was uncovered, both schools' major field of study had use for the tool, mining and metallurgy for the College of Mines and agriculture at then New Mexico A&M. The Brass Spittoon, officially known as the Mayor's Cup, came into existence in 1982 when the mayors of the two cities; Jonathan Rogers of El Paso, and David Steinberg of Las Cruces decided to present another traveling trophy to the winner of the UTEP vs New Mexico State University game. This game is more commonly known as "The Battle of I-10".

Sports Venues

UTEP owns the two largest stadiums in El Paso:

• Sun Bowl Stadium, seating capacity 52,000, opened its doors in 1963 and is currently the home to the UTEP football team and to the annual Brut Sun Bowl game. Sun Bowl Stadium is also now home to the Texas vs. The Nation Game, a college football all-star game.
• Don Haskins Center, seating capacity 12,222, was built in 1976 and is primarily used by the men's and women's basketball teams.
• University Field (UTEP), seating capacity 500, was built in 1991 and hosts the women's soccer team.

References