UNM HOCKEY
Seeing the Rockies: UNM joins Big Mountain Hockey Conference
After championship season, men's club hockey will start new year in new league
RIO RANCHO — New faces will be headed to the McDermott Athletic Center this fall.
The UNM men’s club hockey team will be making the jump from the West Coast Hockey Conference to the Big Mountain Hockey Conference for the 2026-27 season, it was announced April 9.
It has been a little more than two months since the Lobos captured their first conference title at the Division II level, winning the WCHC regular season and conference tournament in Los Angeles.
While it was a memorable bus ride home from California, UNM will now prepare for trips north, with its new conference including Colorado State, MSU Denver, Colorado, Denver and Wyoming.
“New Mexico is a first-class organization and has established itself as a top team in the West Region. We are excited to add such a competitive team to our conference,” Big Mountain Hockey commissioner Charlie Marchese said in a statement, “which will benefit every team and further establish the Big Mountain Hockey Conference as one of the strongest in the West.”
Trading the West Coast for the Rockies may seem like a jump, but the Lobos are no strangers to a number of their new conference mates.
This past season, UNM played nonconference games against Wyoming, MSU Denver and Colorado State, in addition to playing teams like Colorado in previous years.
UNM finished with a 4-2 record against these teams in 2025-26, not including any run-ins with this year’s Colorado team, which won the conference and represented the BMHC at regionals
The Lobos did not meet the Buffs there. An eligibility restriction held UNM back from attending the West Regional in Salt Lake City.
“We look forward to what the future holds as members of the BMHC,” the Lobos wrote online.
But before the season starts in October, UNM will be back on the ice in May to host a Lobos Prospect Camp at the MAC from May 1-3. The camp is aimed at local players 15 years and older.