Ahh…

Can you feel it? It’s that time of year again when the leaves start to fall off trees and it's time to put away those plaid shorts you rocked with during the summer. Autumn is here and the world of sports has hit its pinnacle.

The World Series! After 162 regular season games and the playoffs, it ended up with the Boston Red Sox, who went to their second world series in four seasons and the surprising Colorado Rockies who, in their 15 years of existence, made their World Series debut. At press time, I picked the Sox over the Rocks in six.

The National Football League hits the mid-point, and the contenders are pulling away from the pretenders. And by the way, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is the coolest guy ever. All he does is win Super Bowls and date hot chicks.

The college football Bowl Championship Series poll was newly released. South Florida? Kansas? Arizona State? Those are just a few of the programs that shook things up. And the UTEP football program is playing better than what fans have anticipated. Wow, what an offense! Wow, where’s the defense?

Pucks have started sliding and gliding in hockey rinks everywhere, including right here in El Paso, eh.

And not only is the National Basketball Association about to tip-off, college basketball programs, including the new-look UTEP Miners, are about to start their 2007-08 campaigns.

The new season is being dubbed as Orange Fever…

Head coach Tony Barbee begins his second season here in El Paso. Barbee’s ballers will try to improve upon a 14-17 record of a year ago. The Miners are picked to finish in eighth place, according to the preseason Conference USA coach’s poll. And Memphis, of course, is picked to finish first.

Naturally, the Miners want to surprise people and compete for a spot in the national phenomenon known as the NCAA Basketball Tournament in March. I think Barbee, who came from the same coaching tree as Memphis head coach John Calipari, has a chance to make some noise this season.

Miners’ fans should enjoy a high-powered, up-tempo style of offense this season at the Don Haskins Center.

Calipari has been in the coaching ranks for well over a decade. Barbee was listed as a guard/forward under Calipari at the University of Massachusetts back in the early 90s and saw his fair share of NCAA Tournament bids. Barbee ran his offense to precision. Barbee helped the Minutemen fight for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen during the 1991-92 season and ranks among the program’s top scorers with 1,643 career points.

Barbee was also ranked as one of the top recruiters in the nation when he was an assistant at Memphis according the 2005-06 Street & Smith’s preview issue. He’s brought in six freshmen, the nation’s 34th-best recruiting class, according to HOOP SCOOP Online.

This year’s roster will introduce more size and height to the program. The one thing Barbee wanted to address this season. Familiar faces will also be recognized by the Miner faithful.

Here’s a small breakdown of the roster:

At least nine guys are 6-foot-5 or taller, three of which are 6-foot-10 or taller, including 6-11 center Jeremy Sampson, who put on about 16 pounds over the summer. The only guy who is 6-5 is junior guard Stefon Jackson, UTEP’s leading scorer. Victor Ramalho, the 6-9, 250 pound forward, came back in “unbelievable shape”, according to Barbee. Marvin Kilgore, a 6-3 point guard, will orchestrate the Barbee offense after he started all 31 games last season. Freshman Julyan Stone, a 6-6 guard, was rated as a top-200 recruit by HOOP SCOOP Online, while 6-7 forward freshmen Manuel Cass was regarded as a top-50 prep school recruit by HOOP SCOOP Online.

The new squad will definitely be tested not only in the classroom, but on the hardwood as well.

The Miners will see NMSU twice, who will be without UTEP’s #1 fan, Reggie Theus. The season starts with the preseason National Invitational Tournament against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, who lost to Wisconsin in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Miners have a possibility of facing Billy Gillispie’s old team Texas A&M in the NIT. UTEP gets the pleasure of playing three 2007 tournament teams that include UNLV, Texas Tech and conference rival Memphis, all on the road. The Miners will see old Western Athletic Conference rivals New Mexico and Wyoming in the Don. They will also face national basketball powerhouse South Carolina Upstate. Who are they?

The 2007-08 season should bring excitement back to the Don Haskins Center and other basketball gyms all over the nation. If things bounce their way, pun intended, we’ll watch Jim Nantz on CBS television announce UTEP’s region and opponent in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Yes, those are the sweet sounds of orange Nikes making those cool squeaking sounds on the court and the rim rattling dunks that shake the backboards back and forth.

You know what they say, size does matter. And UTEP sure has that.