Â鶹¹ÙÍø to Join Mountain West Conference
EL PASO, Texas (Oct 1, 2024) – The University of Texas at El Paso has accepted a formal invitation to join the Mountain West Conference, the University and Conference announced today.
“Joining the Mountain West Conference will bring us back into competition with historic rivals in the west,” said Â鶹¹ÙÍø President Heather Wilson. “There’s no doubt this will be better for our student athletes, our fans, and for El Paso.”
Â鶹¹ÙÍø has given notice to 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.
“We are excited to welcome the University of Texas at El Paso to the Mountain West as the next step in our strategic membership initiatives,” said MW Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. “The addition of Â鶹¹ÙÍø restores historic rivalries with several of our member institutions within the geographic footprint, provides valuable exposure in the great State of Texas, and contributes to our priority of maximizing the student-athlete academic and athletics experience.”
“We are honored to be invited to the Mountain West Conference,” said Â鶹¹ÙÍø Vice President and Director of Athletics Jim Senter. “I know the Miners will feel right at home with the other quality athletic programs in this great conference.”
“This is great for El Paso,” said Josh Hunt, a longtime supporter of Â鶹¹ÙÍø athletics and executive vice president of Hunt Companies. “Mountain West is a great fit, and it will be fantastic to compete again with UNM, Wyoming, Air Force and UNLV.”
Â鶹¹ÙÍø joined Conference USA in 2005 and remained in Conference USA after the most recent conference realignment in 2021. Since that time, most schools that have joined CUSA have been in the eastern United States, far from Â鶹¹ÙÍø and in communities without a large alumni fan base. The only two schools in Texas left in Conference USA are Sam Houston State University and Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
“We wish our colleagues in Conference USA well. It’s a great group of schools, it’s just not as good a fit for us at this time,” said Senter.
“The decision to join the Mountain West Conference is clearly a great opportunity for Â鶹¹ÙÍø,” said The University of Texas System Chancellor James B. Milliken. “President Wilson and Athletic Director Senter have worked for some time to position Â鶹¹ÙÍø well for when the time came. The time came, and they made it happen.”
Wilson and Senter actively engaged in private discussions with the Mountain West and Conference USA to evaluate options and make the best decision for Â鶹¹ÙÍø and El Paso.
“We appreciate the professionalism of the leadership in both Conferences,” Wilson said.
The 335 Â鶹¹ÙÍø student-athletes compete in 17 sports. In the 23-24 academic year, five Miner teams competed for a championship.
About The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is America’s leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 25,000 students are Hispanic, and more than half are the first in their families to go to college. Â鶹¹ÙÍø offers 170 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.
Last Updated on October 01, 2024 at 12:00 AM | Originally published October 01, 2024
By MC Staff Â鶹¹ÙÍø Marketing and Communications
