Five Aggie opponents to receive forfeit wins
NMSU officially goes 2-16 in WAC
ARLINGTON, Texas — New Mexico State’s six canceled Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball games as a result of the program shutting down will be considered forfeits, the league said Monday.
New Mexico State announced the program’s shutdown on Friday, with first-year head coach Greg Heiar and all of its basketball staffers placed on administrative leave amid a hazing and sexual-assault scandal (see page A1).
Wednesday’s WAC ruling obviously doesn’t impact NMSU, which already had announced Sunday it won’t play men’s basketball again this season. But the remaining six teams on the Aggies’ schedule — California Baptist, two with Abilene Christian, UTRGV, Grand Canyon and Tarleton (March 6), have been deemed forfeits in regard to standings and seeding.
“While there is no perfect solution to this unfortunate situation, I believe we landed in the right place,” WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton said in a statement. “I applaud our Athletic Directors for working collaboratively with our staff to reach this decision.”
By Monday, the WAC website (wacsports.com) had updated its league standings reflecting the forfeit rulings. So as far as the WAC goes, New Mexico State finishes 9-15 overall and 2-16 in the conference.
The two teams getting the short end of the stick in the ruling were the two whose losses to the Aggies will still count: Stephen F. Austin and Seattle University.
New Mexico State already was in peril of missing entirely the WAC postseason tournament, since it was last in the 13-team league and only the top 12 teams would qualify to go. Now those bottom teams in the standings know they’ll be heading to Las Vegas for the March 6-11 tourney.
It is a startling spiral downward for an NMSU program that had dominated the league over nearly two decades. Last year, the Aggies went 27-7, won the league postseason tournament and an NCAA Tournament game.
And that’s it for New Mexico State in WAC basketball. The school is scheduled to join Conference USA for all participating sports in July.