Battle of I-10

Battle of I-10
Sport Football
First meeting October 31, 1914
New Mexico State 19, UTEP 0
Latest meeting September 10, 2016
UTEP 38, New Mexico State 22
Next meeting 2017
Statistics
Meetings total 93
All-time series UTEP leads 57-36-2
Current win streak UTEP, 8 (2009–present)
New Mexico State University
University of Texas at El Paso
Locations of NMSU and UTEP

The Battle of I-10 is a college rivalry between The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and New Mexico State University (NMSU). It is called the Battle of I-10 because the two universities are located along Interstate 10 connecting El Paso and Las Cruces.

Football

The 101-year-old series between the UTEP Miners and the NMSU Aggies has had many exciting finishes in its storied history. Although UTEP holds the series lead at 56–35–2, largely due to dominance in the series from the 1920s to the 1960s, UTEP's advantage is 7-0 since 2009.

The winner of the annual matchup receives a pair of traveling trophies. The older of the two is known as the Silver Spade. It is a replica of an old prospector's shovel found in an abandoned mine in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces and has been traded between the schools since 1955. A second trophy, officially titled the Mayor's Cup but commonly nicknamed the Brass Spittoon, was added in 1982.

Due to the close proximity of the campuses it was natural for a rivalry to develop. The Texas College of Mines played its first ever game against a collegiate opponent versus New Mexico A&M in 1914 and, with few exceptions, including during World War I and World War II, the teams would meet again every year. Following World War II the series resumed on an annual basis from 1946 until 2001, when UTEP's administration made the controversial decision to cancel their scheduled trip to Las Cruces in favor of scheduling an additional home contest against a Division I-AA opponent. The schools agreed to meet again in 2002 (a 49–14 NMSU win, their biggest blowout of the Miners since 1922), but did not play again until 2004 in El Paso when the Miners exacted revenge for their blowout loss two years prior with a 45–0 pasting of the Aggies, the most lopsided result in the series in 55 years. The blowout marked the beginning of a three game winning streak for UTEP in the rivalry. The tide of the series then seemingly turned back in the Aggies' favor, as NMSU defeated UTEP the next two years, their first back-to-back wins over UTEP since 1994 and 1995. The Aggies edged the Miners 34–33 on September 20, 2008 at the Sun Bowl for their first win in El Paso since 1994. However, the most recent three games in the series have gone back to the Miners, with UTEP defeating NMSU at Aggie Memorial Stadium 38–12 on September 19, 2009 (only their second win in the Mesilla Valley since 1991), topping the Aggies 42–10 at the Sun Bowl on September 18, 2010, and again defeating the Aggies 16–10 on September 17, 2011 in Las Cruces for their first back-to-back road wins in the series since winning four straight games in Las Cruces between 1986 and 1991.

Notable statistics

Game results

Note: UTEP was known as the Texas School of Mines and Metallurgy prior to 1949 and Texas Western College from 1949–1967, and NMSU was known as New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts prior to 1960. Both schools are listed under their modern abbreviations for all games.

New Mexico State victoriesUTEP victories
#DateLocationWinnerScore
1 1914 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 19–0
2 1915 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 34–0
3 1916 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 6–3
4 1920 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 12–7
5 1921 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 13–0
6 1922 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 64–0
7 1923 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 23–2
8 1924 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 19–0
9 1925 El Paso, TX Tie6–6
10 1926 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 10–8
11 1927 El Paso, TX UTEP 19–7
12 1928 El Paso, TX UTEP 6–0
13 1929 El Paso, TX UTEP 8–0
14 1930 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 25–0
15 1931 El Paso, TX UTEP 20–0
16 1932 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 31–6
17 1933 El Paso, TX UTEP 9–0
18 1935 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 7–0
19 1936 El Paso, TX UTEP 27–7
20 1937 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 14–0
21 1938 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 13–9
22 1939 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 34–0
23 1940 El Paso, TX UTEP 40–26
24 1941 El Paso, TX UTEP 24–13
25 1942 El Paso, TX UTEP 61–6
26 1946 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 14–7
27 1947 El Paso, TX UTEP 26–0
28 1948 El Paso, TX UTEP 92–7
29 1949 El Paso, TX UTEP 69–7
30 1950 El Paso, TX UTEP 40–0
31 1951 El Paso, TX UTEP 41–7
32 1952 Las Cruces, NM Tie20–20
33 1953 El Paso, TX UTEP 39–0
34 1954 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 12–7
35 1955 El Paso, TX UTEP 41–6
36 1956 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 51–7
37 1957 El Paso, TX UTEP 42–12
38 1958 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 17–16
39 1959 El Paso, TX UTEP 20–15
40 1960 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 27–15
41 1961 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 42–6
42 1962 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 21–0
43 1963 El Paso, TX UTEP 14–13
44 1964 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 13–7
45 1965 El Paso, TX UTEP 21–6
46 1966 El Paso, TX UTEP 28–14
47 1967 El Paso, TX UTEP 46–24
48 1968 El Paso, TX UTEP 30–14
#DateLocationWinnerScore
49 1969 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 41–38
50 1970 El Paso, TX UTEP 21–14
51 1971 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 14–7
52 1972 El Paso, TX UTEP 21–20
53 1973 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 27–23
54 1974 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 14–13
55 1975 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 31–24
56 1976 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 13–10
57 1977 El Paso, TX UTEP 23–21
58 1978 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 35–32
59 1979 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 14–13
60 1980 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 6–3
61 1981 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 14–7
62 1982 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 20–17
63 1983 El Paso, TX UTEP 20–9
64 1984 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 27–16
65 1985 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 22–20
66 1986 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 47–33
67 1987 El Paso, TX UTEP 31–0
68 1988 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 42–9
69 1989 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 29–27
70 1990 El Paso, TX UTEP 27–24
71 1991 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 22–21
72 1992 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 30–24
73 1993 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 31–14
74 1994 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 23–22
75 1995 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 45–17
76 1996 El Paso, TX UTEP 14–7
77 1997 El Paso, TX UTEP 24–16
78 1998 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 33–24
79 1999 El Paso, TX UTEP 54–23
80 2000 El Paso, TX UTEP 41–31
81 2002 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 49–14
82 2004 El Paso, TX UTEP 45–0
83 2005 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 34–17
84 2006 El Paso, TX UTEP 44–38
85 2007 Las Cruces, NM New Mexico State 29–24
86 2008 El Paso, TX New Mexico State 34–33
87 2009 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 38–12
88 2010 El Paso, TX UTEP 42–10
89 2011 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 16–10
90 2012 El Paso, TX UTEP 41–28
91 2013 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 42–21
92 2014 El Paso, TX UTEP 42–24
93 2015 Las Cruces, NM UTEP 50–47
94 2016 El Paso, TX UTEP 38–22
Series: UTEP leads 57–35–2

Basketball

The NMSU and UTEP men's basketball programs share remarkably similar histories and have played an extremely competitive series of games against one another. The programs both experienced their greatest national prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when both schools were led by young up-and-coming coaches who would eventually win more than 700 games (Don Haskins at UTEP, Lou Henson at NMSU) and appeared in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four within four years of each other. UTEP (then still known as Texas Western) won the 1966 national title while NMSU advanced to the 1970 national semifinal before falling to UCLA, but won the consolation game to finish the season third in the nation. Both programs returned to national prominence in the early 1990s with the Aggies and Miners both advancing to the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet Sixteen" in 1992. NMSU has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 18 times to UTEP's 17 appearances, and NMSU has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen five times to UTEP's four (although three of NMSU's appearances in the early 1990s, including the 1992 Sweet Sixteen run, have since been vacated by the NCAA due to rules violations). Most recently, both schools won conference titles and advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2010.

There is some discrepancy between the two schools on the all-time series record as well as the number of all-time meetings between the schools. Entering the 2011–12 season NMSU records show that the schools have met 200 times, with NMSU holding a 102–98 all time advantage,[2] while UTEP records show 201 meetings with NMSU's advantage at 101–100.[3] Uniquely among non-conference rivalries, the schools traditionally play a two game home-and-home series each season, unlike most other non-conference rivalry series where a single meeting per season is the norm. UTEP swept the 2010–11 series between the schools, winning 73–56 on November 23, 2010 in El Paso and 74–72 on November 30, 2010 in Las Cruces. The Aggies defeated the Miners 89–73 in the first meeting of the 2011–12 season series on November 19, 2011 at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces. And later in the second meeting of 2011–12 basketball season the Miners defeated the Aggies 73–69 on December 11, 2011 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, TX to split the season series.

References

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