The climb continues and the hope — something that once was the tiniest of creatures even in the most faithful of hearts — continues to grow.
UTEP, a team that is usually an afterthought year in, year out as being among the conference leaders, began this season floundering ... dwelling down there among the basement souls. UTEP imploded from a 2-1 beginning into a 12-game losing skid and a sad record of 2-13. The Miners opened Conference USA play 0-3 and were sharing cellar space.
But, as it turned out, the Miners were merely renting that basement space.