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FACTS & STATS: Site: Sun Bowl Stadium (51,500) -- El Paso, Texas. Television: CBSCSN. Home Record: Tulsa 4-1, UTEP 3-2. Away Record: Tulsa 3-2, UTEP 2-3. Neutral Record: Tulsa 0-0, UTEP 0-0. Conference Record: Tulsa 6-0, UTEP 2-4. Series Record: Tulsa leads, 11-8.

GAME NOTES: Needing one more win to become bowl eligible, the Texas-El Paso Miners welcome the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to Sun Bowl Stadium for a key late- season showdown with postseason implications in the Conference USA pecking order.

This marks the final home game of the year for the Miners, who were a 22-17 winner at home over East Carolina last weekend. The win also snapped a two- game slide for UTEP, which plays at UCF next Friday night to close out the regular season. Should they lose this week's tilt, that showdown against the Knights will be a must-win affair for the Miners.

As for the Golden Hurricane, they enter the contest hoping to run their winning streak to seven games following a 59-17 rout of Marshall last weekend. At 6-0 in league play, Tulsa is tied with unbeaten Houston atop the C-USA West Division standings, and those two will square off next week in the regular- season finale for both teams. Tulsa's only losses on the season came back in September against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Boise State -- all of which are currently ranked in the top-10.

Tulsa owns an 11-8 edge in the head-to-head series with UTEP, although the Miners have won the last three home meetings by an average margin of 2.6 points.

Tulsa comes into the game ranked 19th nationally and second in the conference in total offense (461.6 ypg) under first-year head coach Bill Blankenship. The strength is a rushing attack that has averaged a league-best 209.4 yards per tilt, helping the team eclipse 30 points in five of six C-USA games this year with an average winning margin of 20.2 points in those contests. Additionally, the Golden Hurricane are coming off perhaps their most thorough victory of the year as they put up more than 50 points and 600 total yards against Marshall. The Golden Hurricane racked up 682 yards of total offense, their most in a game since gaining 791 yards against UTEP on October 18, 2008. G.J. Kinne threw for 302 yards and four touchdowns, but he was far from the only contributor. Ja'Terian Douglas ran for a career-high 194 yards on only 10 carries, while Trey Watts added 144 rushing yards with a score and Alex Singleton notched three rushing TDs from short distance. Bryan Burnham caught a career-best 10 passes for 146 yards and a TD to help the Golden Hurricane remain unbeaten in league play and keep pace with Houston atop the West Division standings.

Tulsa senior linebacker Curnelius Arnick has totaled 120 tackles in 10 games this year for an average of 12.0 tackles per game, which ranks fourth nationally. He is second in the country in solo stops, averaging 8.1 per contest. Arnick has had six games with double-digit tackles, including 18 against both nationally-ranked Oklahoma and Boise State, and 11 stops against Oklahoma State. He had seven tackles and a pair of pass breakups last week, while sophomore linebacker Shawn Jackson earned team-high honors with nine tackles (8.0 solo, 3.0 TFL) and a sack. Their efforts helped limit Marshall to only one trip to the red zone, which netted a field goal. Dexter McCoil also notched his fourth interception of the year to share the team lead with fellow defensive back Milton Howell. During their six-game win streak, the Golden Hurricane have allowed an average of only 17.5 ppg, compared to an average of 49 points in their three losses. And over the last three games, opponents have averaged just 13.7 points against Tulsa.

The Golden Hurricane will now face a UTEP squad that is capable of scoring some points (27.7 per game) but has been inconsistent of late. In their last outing, the Miners turned to senior running back Joe Banyard, who ran for 140 of the team's 241 rushing yards for the game. With 7:04 remaining in regulation, Banyard gave his team the lead for good on a 77-yard touchdown run. The offensive line opened a mammoth hole on that play and did a solid job opening running lanes throughout the contest. With some questions at quarterback, look for UTEP to go back to the well and lean on that running game once again this week. Starting QB Nick Lamaison exited the game in the first quarter with a groin injury and did not return. Sophomore Carson Meger replaced him and went 18-of-27 for 155 yards, steering clear of turnovers while the rushing attack churned out a team average of 5.5 yards per carry. However, if Meger is under center again this week, he'll need to take some more chances in the passing game in order to keep pace with Tulsa's high- octane offense.

Defensively, UTEP put forth a solid effort in keeping ECU out of the end zone after the 11:36 mark of the third quarter. The Pirates were held to 254 total yards for the day, which is 200 yards below UTEP's defensive average for yards allowed entering the game. The Miners bottled up ECU running back Torrance Hunt to just 49 rushing yards on 18 carries (2.7 ypc), while Dominique Davis finished with only 133 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. And with the game still very much in the balance, the defense forced two punts and came up with a big interception in ECU's final three drives. Senior defensive back TraVaun Nixon came up with that game-sealing pick with a little more than two minutes to play. He finished with a team-high eight tackles, while Richard Spencer was close behind with seven. Nixon has tallied four of the team's 10 interceptions on the year despite playing in only six games. Rest assured, Tulsa's Kinne will know exactly where Nixon is on each play before the ball is snapped.

This series has featured some pretty tight games in recent years, and this could be another nip-and-tuck affair. However, Tulsa has won 11 consecutive conference games dating back to last season, and the visitors should be able to notch No. 12 in this contest.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Tulsa 38, Texas-El Paso 27