Pitino era kicks off Nov. 5
UNM’s schedule resumes series against Aggies after pandemic iced 2020 games
The year has offered a series of homecomings and renewals around the world of sports, least of which will eventually include the University of New Mexico men’s basketball team.
The Lobos finally unveiled their 202122 nonconference schedule Friday, a 13-game slate that gives UNM 32 regular season dates along with a preseason exhibition in The Pit against New Mexico Highlands. The Cowboys will visit Albuquerque on Nov. 5, officially kicking off the coach Richard Pitino era for New Mexico.
His welcoming party is just the tip of the iceberg for UNM. The Lobos spent the 2020-21 season on the road due to pandemic health restrictions, playing “home games” in Colorado, Utah and, more often than not, Texas. It proved to be too much as the Lobos stumbled to a 6-16 record that ended with Paul Weir’s firing as head coach.
It ushered in the Pitino era, giving the former Minnesota coach the last six months to rebuild a roster that returns just five scholarship players.
Pitino will have plenty of chances to wow the fans. The Lobos will play 19 games in The Pit, including December when they’ll play half a dozen games without venturing out of town.
The circle-the-date nonconference games are, as usual, both games against New Mexico State, as well as games against SMU, Colorado and longtime regional rival UTEP. The Lobos will also play in the Las Vegas Classic during Thanksgiving week, facing Alabama-Birmingham on Thanksgiving Day and either San Francisco or Towson the next day.
The Lobos haven’t played in The Pit since upsetting Utah State in the final game of the 2019-20 regular season on Feb. 29, 2020. The team did hold a handful of practices in the arena last year but haven’t had a single fan come into the building to see them in action in nearly 20 months.
The exhibition against Highlands
predates the Nov. 10 regular season opener by five days. The Lobos open against Florida Atlantic, then head to Colorado before getting three more games at home: Grambling State, Montana State and Western New Mexico. That’s followed by the Las Vegas Classic, then consecutive games against New Mexico State in a renewal of the Rio Grande Rivalry that took a rare hiatus last season because of the pandemic.
The Lobos will visit Las Cruces on Nov. 30. The Aggies will be in Albuquerque six days later.
UNM opens its 18-game Mountain West Conference schedule at home Dec. 28 against Colorado State. The Lobos will play eight league rivals at home and on the road with single games against Nevada and Boise State. The Lobos travel to Reno, Nev., for another encounter with former Lobos coaches Steve Alford and Craig Neal on New Year’s Day, and get a visit from Boise State on Feb. 8.
The MWC Tournament returns to its normal dates in the second week of March at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., with games running March 9-12.
Lobos football expects large crowd
Crowded … for once: UNM is anticipating its largest crowd since the 2019 season when it hosts New Mexico State at 5 p.m. Saturday. As of Friday afternoon, the university had sold more than 22,000 tickets with walk-up purchases anticipated to push that figure to about 30,000.
Scouting the Aggies: NMSU is what they thought they were.
The Aggies throw the ball on about three-fourths of their offensive snaps. For the 2020 Lobos, that’s bad news since last year’s unit ranked near the bottom in the country in pass defense. Last week’s win over Houston Baptist showed some hope for UNM. The Huskies were held to fewer than 200 yards through the air, getting two interceptions and five sacks.
Infirmary: Quarterback Terry Wilson’s ankle is healed after injuring it during last week’s walk-through prior to the Houston Baptist game. Same, too, for starting running back Bobby Cole, whose injury gave playing time to true freshman Aaron Dumas from El Paso.
Head coach Danny Gonzales said Dumas appeared to be a little overwhelmed by the moment — not surprising considering he was in high school just a few months ago.
Highlands football faces tough foe
Litmus test: A blowout winner at Fort Lewis in last week’s season opener, New Mexico Highlands takes a dramatic step up in weight class this week with Saturday’s road game at Colorado School of Mines. The Orediggers (1-0) are ranked No. 8 in this week’s NCAA Division II top 25, the first of two games NMHU will play this fall against conference opponents in the national polls.
“This could be one of those games that, if we do what we think we can, might put us on the map a little bit,” said Cowboys coach Josh Kirkland.