Nightmare is over

Albuquerque native goes on ESPN show

UTEP beats Rice to end 20-game losing streak

Alex Bregman had some fun Saturday, even if his LSU Tigers did not.

The Albuquerque native and Houston Astros All-Star third baseman was invited to be the celebrity picker on ESPN’s College Game Day show that aired Saturday morning in Baton Rouge, La., site of Saturday night’s nationally televised No. 1 Alabama at No. 4 LSU college football game.

Bregman, the former LSU baseball star wearing a white LSU football jersey and a baseball cap turned backward, not only picked LSU, but predicted by 42-10 (Alabama won, 29-0).

While his pick didn’t bring luck to his former college, he did hit on several other picks, including picking Arizona State to upset Utah, citing his hate of Utes because he comes from a city in New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference, where the Utes used to play and were once considered hated rivals of the New Mexico Lobos.

Bregman also posted video on his Instagram page of him enjoying the Friday night festivities in Baton Rouge and Saturday tailgating, including “shotgunning” a can of beer (a way of drinking beer quickly by poking a hole in the bottom of the can) along with his father, Sam Bregman, and other friends.

Bregman’s picks, which were largely derided by panelist Desmond Howard since the two disagreed so often, were 7-6.

UTEP, at long last

In Houston, Quardraiz Wadley ran for 91 yards on 20 carries and scored two touchdowns and UTEP ended one losing streak and continued another with a 34-26 win over Rice on Saturday.

Entering the game, UTEP (1-8, 1-4 Conference USA) was the only winless FBS team this season and had lost 20 straight games. The Miners’ last win came on Nov. 26, 2016, in a 52-24 home win against North Texas. UTEP hadn’t beaten the Owls in Rice Stadium in 13 years.

New Mexico State sports information director John Vu had this note: The last time UTEP and NMSU won on the same date was Nov. 12, 2011. Once in 2014 and in 2015, they managed to win on the same week, if different days.

As for Rice (1-9, 0-6), the Owls own a nine-game losing streak, which now is the longest in the nation among major schools.

Unheralded stars

■ Ross Comis, UMass, threw for a career-best 540 yards and accounted for six TDs in a 62-59 triple overtime win over Liberty.

■ Reggie Corbin, Illinois, rushed for 213 yards and two TDs and became the first Illini player to rush for two 70-yardplus touchdowns in a single game since 1944 in a 55-31 win over Minnesota.

■ Ryan Boyle, Indiana State, had seven touchdowns, including a 3-yard scoring pass to Dante Hendrix in triple OT.