UTEP's season-long chase of national recognition took a big step forward this week as the Miners jumped all the way up to 27th in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
They went from 14 points to 24 and are now just behind Duquesne (27 points) in the "others receiving votes" category.
Colorado State is 25th and Missouri is 24th.
The Miners are up to 30th in the Associated Press poll, with eight of their 14 points coming from Austin American-Statesman reporter (and former El Paso Times reporter) Rick Cantu. UTEP has a total of four newspaper voters placing them on their ballot.