As part of the 16-team WAC when eight schools broke away to form the Mountain West Conference, UTEP has assuredly coveted a Mountain West invite since the league formed in 1998.
A quarter-century later, it finally came.
Granted, only four of the original eight members are still in the conference, but it came nonetheless.
On Tuesday, the Mountain West announced UTEP as its seventh full-time member. It's the conference's first move since losing Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State to the reimagined Pac-12, and since ensuring its survival after holding on to Air Force and UNLV.
“There’s no doubt this will be better for our student-athletes, our fans, and for El Paso,” said UTEP President Heather Wilson. “We look forward to rekindling former rivalries and welcoming teams and their fans to El Paso.”
The move brings the Mountain West to eight football-playing institutions and seven full-time members; Hawai'i plays football in the MW but the rest of its sports are in the Big West.
On that front, Yahoo's Ross Dellenger reported the Mountain West is in "serious discussions" with Tarleton. The Stephenville, Texas-based school competed in Division II as recently as 2019, and just became eligible to reach the postseason in 2024.
If and when that move is completed, Tarleton would become the state of Texas's 14th FBS member, with four schools joining since 2010.
The Mountain West has held deep and serious discussions with FCS Tarleton State, sources tell @YahooSports. MWC needs one more full member to qualify as a conference.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 1, 2024
Talks between the Texas-based FCS school and the conference have progressed.
Texas State was last seen working the phones with the MW, the AAC, and the Pac-12, so Tuesday's news could be an indication that the Bobcats could be on their way to the Pac-12.
If that's the case, the Bobcats had best work quickly. Last season's 8-5 record and First Responder Bowl victory represents the capstone of Texas State's achievements at college football's highest level (since 2012), and 35-year-old head coach GJ Kinne is viewed as one of the rising stars of the sport, so there's no guarantee the program's current run -- which currently consists of just 17 games; the Bobcats are 2-2 so far this fall -- extends beyond this season.
Elsewhere, the Pac-12 officially added Gonzaga as an Olympic sports member, allowing that conference to add one more FBS member and close up shop.
Of course, no realignment domino falls in a forest without someone hearing it -- I think that's how the saying goes -- and so it's possible the Mountain West's move and the Pac-12's impending addition inspires additional move(s).
For one, Conference USA just lost its longest-standing member by nearly a decade, and UTEP's defection further isolates its westernmost member.
New Mexico State is now roughly 770 miles away from its next-closest conference mate (Sam Houston), and nearly 1,000 miles from its second-closest C-USA bunk mate (Louisiana Tech).
C-USA is fine from a numbers perspective (nine members), but if the Mountain West is talking to Tarleton, one has to figure New Mexico State is currently attempting to whip moves to join a richer, more geographically sensical conference that now happens to house its two primary rivals in New Mexico and UTEP.
Finally, the Sun Belt is the lone FBS conference to split into divisions, with seven schools apiece split between East and West. If and when Texas State leaves, that symmetry will go with them. The Sun Belt could move forward as a 13-team conference, or it could backfill its presence in the crossroads of college football -- if Texas State joins the Pac-12, the only FBS conferences without a Texas presence would be the Big Ten, the MAC and the Sun Belt -- by courting the team that just beat Texas State this past Saturday: Sam Houston.
And if that comes to pass, Conference USA could then backfill with Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Commerce, Houston Christian or San Antonio-based Incarnate Word. Texas Woman's University doesn't currently field a football team, but a Division I conference might call to inquire just in case.
As those dominoes wait to fall, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.