Conference USA coaches foresee a tight race in the league’s Western Division this fall, with three teams in the hunt for the title Tulsa, UTEP and Houston.

A total of six points separate the Golden Hurricane, Miners and Cougars in the preseason C-USA coaches poll, released on Monday by the league office.

Defending C-USA champion Tulsa is picked to win the Western Division with 61 points, followed closely by UTEP (60 points) and Houston (55 points).

SMU (39 points), Tulane (20 points) and Rice (17 points) round out the voting in the Western Division.

UCF has been pegged first in the East (65 points), with Southern Miss second (52 points), Memphis third (43 points), Marshall fourth (35 points), UAB fifth (28 points) and East Carolina sixth (25 points).

Three Miner seniors were appointed to the preseason All-Conference USA team wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr., and defensive linemen Alex Obomese and Zach West.

The preseason offensive and defensive player of the year are Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb and UAB defensive end Larry McSwain, respectively. Southern Miss kicker Darren McCaleb is the preseason C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year.

Season Ticket Holders Get First Crack at Individual Game Tickets: UTEP Athletics is saying "thanks" to its football season ticket holders. Season ticket holders will have the first opportunity to purchase individual game tickets for the 2006 season, Miner director of athletics Bob Stull announced on Monday.

Individual game tickets will go on sale on August 14, to new season ticket holders who have purchased season tickets and existing season ticket holders, who have renewed their tickets by July 28th. Season ticket holders will have a full week to purchase individual tickets before they go on sale to the general public on Aug. 21.

All season ticket holders will receive a card in the mail after Aug. 1. They will need to bring the card and a corresponding photo I.D. to the University Ticket Center (located at the corner of Mesa Street and Glory Road) to purchase tickets during the pre-sale period. There is no limit on the number of single-game tickets that they can purchase.

UTEP’s home schedule features matchups with 2005 bowl teams Texas Tech (Sept. 9) and Memphis (Nov. 25), as well as Interstate 10 rival New Mexico State (Sept. 30). The Miners will also host SMU (Oct. 7), Tulane (Oct. 14) and Rice (Nov. 4).