Can't U guys get along? USC, UTEP coaching staffs nearly come to blows

Somebody call in Michael Buffer, because the USC and UTEP coaching staffs are definitely ready to rumble.

Southern Cal and Texas-El Paso are in Jamaica for the Battle 4 Atlantis, and it seems somebody was taking the "€œBattle"€ part a little too literally. According to reports from the scene Wednesday night, Trojans head coach Andy Enfield and his staff and Miners head man Tim Floyd and his assistants nearly traded blows.

Enfield and Floyd have something of a feud going, the genesis of which was that Floyd apparently believes Enfield messed with a UTEP-signed recruit from Los Angeles who ended up de-committing --€” and, by the way, going to UCLA, not USC. Enfield tossed a few logs on this fire by being quoted in a magazine piece saying of Floyd, a former USC coach: "Tim Floyd shows up every day at work and realizes he lives in El Paso, Texas. And he's pissed off that he didn't get the USC job [again]."

Enfield, in his first season at USC, sought out Floyd at the welcome reception for the teams and their staffs, wanting to apologize for his remarks.

"I was trying to tell him that I was sorry that we had words and that we should try to put this behind us," Enfield told Sports Illustrated'€™s Seth Davis. "I thought it would be a 20-second conversation."

It went on much longer than that, Davis reported, and Enfield'€s wife, Amanda, come over to join him as Floyd continued to berate Enfield. An observer told Scout.com that the UTEP coach was cursing at Enfield and jabbing him in the chest with his fingers. Eventually, though, the two head coaches walked away and their assistants got into it.

The two teams aren't scheduled to meet in the tournament, but there is the possibility of a USC-UTEP game on Saturday in the consolation bracket. If that happens, maybe someone can bring in an octagon and place it at center court.