The University of New Mexico and the Texas School of Mines — now the University of Texas at El Paso — first met in men’s basketball on Feb. 21, 1929. The Lobos prevailed in the Border City, 46-27, behind Pete Good’s 16 points.

It’s not clear why it took the two schools that long to finally meet, since UNM had been fielding a team since 1899 and UTEP since 1914. The Lobos had been traveling to Las Cruces to play the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (now New Mexico State) since 1904; El Paso was just another 45 miles down the road.

The UTEP media guide doesn’t list, from those early years, which games were at home and which were away. But it seems likely the Miners had traveled as far west as Tucson and as far east as Dallas before they made the trip north to Albuquerque for the first time in 1930. (The Lobos won that one, as well, 49-26.)

So, why the delay in these two natural rivals getting together?

I don’t know, maybe one coach didn’t like the other.

Should that have mattered then? No.

Should it matter now? No.

Last week on Scott Stiegler’s radio show on KKOB-AM (770), Lobos coach Steve Alford said he had no interest in scheduling a series with UTEP.

That’s an abrupt about-face from Alford’s view of the Lobos-Miners series as stated before the two teams met last March in an NIT game at the Pit.

“It’s a great rival from the past, kind of a border war,” Alford had said. “There have been a lot of good games between UTEP and UNM in the past.”

Alford went on to say a Lobos-Miners game was in the works for the 2011-12 season.

Then, the morning of that NIT game, the two coaching staffs had a heated exchange over a misunderstanding about shoot-around times. Each head coach, Alford and UTEP’s Tim Floyd, blamed the other.

After the game, a 69-57 UNM victory, Alford took several thinly veiled shots at Floyd and how he runs a program.

Floyd had resigned as head coach at Southern California in 2009 amid an NCAA probe of possible violations. That investigation resulted in severe sanctions for the USC program, though Floyd himself was cleared of any wrongdoing.

“They’ve got one way of doing things,” Alford said after the NIT game, “and we’ve got our way of doing things.”

Moments later, Floyd provided his version of what had happened that morning. But he also took the opportunity to say the New Mexico-UTEP rivalry is bigger than any coach.

“I think we should play every year until they take the air out of the basketball,” he said. “We come up here next (season) because it’s important to the fans of the programs.”

Not so fast, Tim. On Stiegler’s show last week, Alford made it clear his feelings toward Floyd are the primary reason he’s now refusing to schedule UTEP.

For the fans, that’s truly unfortunate. Scheduling is difficult enough, especially in times of conference realignment, without letting personal animus get in the way.

Recently, UNM pulled out of a 2012 football game with UTEP because of issues arising from comings and goings in the Mountain West Conference. But the schools worked it out, reaching agreement on a home-and-home series in 2013-14.

Will the two play every year thereafter? Probably not. Still, each school recognized the Lobos-Miners football rivalry has value.

Based on the history, men’s basketball has far more.

Since that first meeting in 1929, the Lobos and Miners have met 139 more times. The Lobos lead the series, 75-65.

Lasting memories have been created.

In 1966, UTEP — then known as Texas Western — rallied from 20 down in the second half to beat the Lobos 67-64 in overtime at UNM’s Johnson Gym. The Miners would go on to win the national title.

In 1974, the Lobos beat the 19th-ranked Miners 67-55 in the Pit, clinching an outright WAC regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament bid.

In 1986, a fan tossed a wadded-up paper cup onto the Pit floor as UTEP’s Wayne Campbell missed the front end of a one-and-one with the Lobos up by a point in overtime. The referee gave Campbell another chance. He made both shots, and the Miners won 71-70.

In 1991, UNM beat the Miners 72-70 in El Paso on a Luc Longley 10-footer at the buzzer. Without that victory in the regular-season finale, would the Lobos have gotten their first NCAA Tournament bid since ’78? No way.

In 1999, former New Mexico high school star Jarvis Mullahon — spurned by UNM and now a Miner — stood with the ball on his hip as the clock ticked down on an apparent 81-69 UTEP victory in El Paso. At the buzzer, he launched a rub-it-in 3-pointer. Nothing but net.

And now, Steve Alford won’t schedule UTEP because he doesn’t like Tim Floyd?

C’mon Steve; your buddy Tim is right.

This rivalry is bigger than any coach.
— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal