UNM BASKETBALL
Lobo hoops: UNM releases 2026-27 Mountain West basketball schedule
The Lobos open conference play Jan. 2 at UTEP and close the regular season at Nevada, with storylines including a UNLV coach daring Pit fans to boo him.
Fans light up the stands with cell phone flashlights during the first half of the UNM Lobos vs. Colorado State game in the Pit on Dec. 28, 2022.
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It鈥檒l start with a conference renewal game against UTEP.
Then, the return to the Pit of a Lute Olson disciple begging fans to boo him.
Then it鈥檚 right into a midweek island hop to Hawaii before wrapping up in Reno 鈥� with a possible conference title on the line 鈥� against a pair of former Lobo coaches and their new pack of wolves.
UNM on Tuesday released the preliminary version of its 18-game 2026-27 season Mountain West men鈥檚 basketball schedule. Combined with the 11 nonconference games already announced, we now know 29 of 32 regular season games for Eric Olen鈥檚 second season as head coach.
The league does not yet know when its media rights partners will be selecting which games to broadcast when, meaning any of the 18 conference games revealed Tuesday could still be shifted one day to accommodate television broadcasts (Tuesday games can shift to Wednesdays, Saturday games can shift to Friday night).
But of the league games we do know, there are some decent storylines to grab hold of, even if the league clearly isn't going to be as strong in men's basketball in its new conference makeup as it was in the previous iteration before Utah State, Boise State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Colorado State defected to join this season the relaunch of the Pac-12.
UNM opens the new Mountain West season on Jan. 2 at UTEP.
The last time UNM and UTEP played as conference rivals was on Feb. 20, 1999, in the Pit in a late-season WAC tilt. Kenny Thomas scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a lopsided 81-65 UNM win over the Miners.
The teams have split the 10 nonconference games they鈥檝e played since then 鈥� five wins apiece 鈥� including a 2011 NIT game in the Pit in which Steve Alford鈥檚 Lobos and Tim Floyd鈥檚 Miners nearly came to blows on the Pit ramp the day prior to the game concerning which team was supposed to be on the court for practice.
Former UNM head coaches Alford and Craig Neal pay a visit to the Pit on Jan. 5 with Nevada, which also hosts UNM on the regular season鈥檚 final day.
UNLV head coach Josh Pastner, who last year in a podcast with the Journal noted that he played for Olson when the legendary Arizona head coach vowed to never schedule a game in the Pit again in the late 1990s due to what he said was some home cookin鈥� with the game clock, missed an Albuquerque visit this past season due to the league鈥檚 unbalanced schedule.
This year, he has a challenge for Pit fans.
鈥淚 just want to make sure that when UNLV steps on that floor at the Pit 鈥� and God rest his soul, Lute Olson will be looking down at every second of the (game) timer and he鈥檚 going to be checking every little thing 鈥� but I expect those fans to be booing as loud as they can be, and I want to hear that all throughout the state of New Mexico,鈥� .
鈥淎nd I want to return when we鈥檙e here at UNLV at Thomas & Mack. I want us to be booing as loud as we can to New Mexico.鈥�
Feb. 13, Pastner gets his wish with the Rebels playing in the Pit.
UNM has announced or the Journal has confirmed 11 of the Lobos鈥� 14 nonconference games. Of the three left, one is expected to be UNM鈥檚 non-Division I opponent 鈥� likely D-II Eastern New Mexico University or D-II Western New Mexico University.
Geoff Grammer covers Lobo men鈥檚 basketball and other sports for the Journal. Reach him at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .
