Not yet sold
Fans haven’t made a commitment to Lobo football
Picture the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and maybe even old nemesis Brigham Young coming to Albuquerque to play Big XII Conference football games against new league member New Mexico.
Picture sellout crowds of some 40,000 jamming University Stadium to watch those games.
Then, wake up, get out of bed and toddle into the kitchen to get your morning coffee. You’ve been dreaming.
And unless fans start coming to University Stadium now, and not later, Big XII membership will never be a reality.
Impending Big XII expansion is more than a rumor at this point, and it was a hot topic at this week’s Mountain West media gathering in Las Vegas, Nev. Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson acknowledged that unidentified MWC schools had informed him they had reached out to the Big XII.
Speculation points to Boise State and Colorado State as the schools in question. Former MWC member school BYU, currently a football independent, is widely believed to be a top prospect.
Is New Mexico a candidate? No.
Could it be? Bob Davie thinks so. And why not?
The Albuquerque-Santa Fe TV market ranks in the nation’s top 50 (44th according to one source, 48th according to another). Boise, Idaho, doesn’t crack the top 100. Fort Collins, Colo., can be considered part of the Denver market, but CSU has only a small slice of that huge pie. In contrast, UNM dominates its market.
But football drives conference realignment, and Boise State has been really good at football for quite a long time. Colorado State? Not so much, but CSU is in the process of constructing a $220 million, 40,000-capacity on-campus stadium.
This fall and in the future, what could UNM do to catch the eye of a Power 5 conference? Get better at football, which Davie
and his staff are intent on doing — hoping to build on last season’s seven wins and a bowl bid.
And what could Albuquerqueans do? Come to the games now, this season, no matter the opponent.
“If we want to be in a position to be in one of those Power 5 conferences, we’ve got a chance to make that investment right now,” Davie said during the Mountain West media gathering earlier this week. “We’re making it as coaches. We’re coaching our butt off. Our players are making that investment.”
Albuquerque, thus far, hasn’t been willing to pony up. The average attendance for UNM’s seven regularseason home games last fall was 23,528, not quite 60 percent of stadium capacity.
In general, Davie has been circumspect about the attendance issue since he took over the program in 2012 — reluctant to tell Albuquerqueans/New Mexicans how to spend their discretionary dollar. It was his job, and that of his staff, to make UNM football something people would pay to see.
Nonetheless, after the Lobos’ landmark victory at Boise State in November, Davie and athletic director Paul Krebs made concerted pitches for big fan turnouts at UNM’s two remaining home games against CSU and Air Force.
If not on deaf ears, those words fell on plugged ones. The CSU game drew an announced crowd of 21,463; only 18,868 came out for the Lobos’ late-night season finale against Air Force.
In Vegas, in answer to a question, Davie said what former UNM coach Rocky Long had said many times before. If one sits back and waits for success, one will be sitting and waiting a long time.
“If fans want to talk about New Mexico being in the Big XII,” Davie said, “then come to the games this year and say, ‘Listen, we’re putting 40,000 in a 40,000-seat stadium.’ Don’t say ‘After you take us and give us that (Big XII TV money), now we’re going to come.’ You’d better prove it first.
“That’s the real situation. ‘Yeah, I’ll take your $30 million.’ ‘No, what have you done to prove you even deserve to be in the conversation?’ ”
New Mexico is not in that conversation, and football attendance certainly is one reason why. Personally, I’ve never been one to criticize my fellow Burqueños for not buying tickets to UNM football or any other sporting event. Your call, not mine.
But there exists as yet no timetable for Big XII expansion. And if you’d like to see the Oklahoma Sooners or Texas Longhorns come to University Stadium,whether in the near or distant future, it’s time to climb on board.