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Lobos, Aggies fans glad to have rivalry matchup back after 'pause'

Lobos fans react in the stands before the start of the men’s basketball game between the New Mexico State Aggies and the University of New Mexico in the Pit on Saturday.

Lobos fan Michael Yannoni in the stands before the start of the University of New Mexico men’s basketball game against the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday.

Melina Martinez, 9, holds up a sign during the men’s basketball game between the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State in the Pit.

Lobos fans Lexis Blount and her boyfriend Creighton Apodaca, center, hangout in the stands before the start of the University of New Mexico men’s basketball game against the New Mexico State Aggies at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday Dec. 2, 2023.

Aggies fans from the left, Alvin Sallee, Charles Sallee and Violet Sallee 11, wait for the game to begin

Matthew Reisen Matthew Reisen Matthew Reisen News Editor

Published December 2, 2023 - 9:00 p.m. Modified January 6, 2025 - 2:00 a.m.

The rivalry is back. Full stop.

Thousands of fans streamed into the Pit on Saturday night to watch the Lobo men’s basketball team take on the Aggies for the first time in two years. The matchups were canceled last year after a shootout in Albuquerque left a New Mexico State University player injured and a University of New Mexico student dead.

But the shooting, which was spurred by a scuffle at a football game and not directly tied to the decadeslong rivalry, was far from the minds of attendees.

For Aggie fan Gloria Gallegos and Lobo fan Christopher Chavez, the matchup doesn’t get much better.

“What happened — if we let that change our ways — the bad stuff wins, and that’s not the way it should be,” Gallegos said. “Rivalries are fun.”

Chavez added, “We need to move forward from that. With all the crap going on in the world these days, you got to move forward.”

Despite last year’s shooting and more recent off-court controversies assailing the Aggies team, the fans on Saturday believe the rivalry is a benefit to the state and both universities. For many, it’s a nostalgic callback to college days and often a family affair that brings people together.

A few people felt the games should not have been canceled last year and others thought they should have been put on hold longer, but the majority were glad the break happened to let any possible tensions cool.

Kathy Romero, a Lobos season ticket holder with her husband, Alfredo, had two words to describe the rivalry: “it’s history.”

Regardless, she said she was a “little hesitant” to come to the matchup at first. “Gun-shy, I guess,” she said.

Alfredo Romero called the dynamic “a healthy rivalry” and believed the cancellations may have been a bit of an overreaction to an outside incident.

Being the only two Lobo fans in a family of Aggies, he said excitedly, “I’m gonna see a bunch of cousins tonight that I don’t see all the time.”

Creighton Apodaca and Lexis Blount, both UNM students with season tickets, were happy to be back.

“Excited enough to get here an hour and a half early,” Blount said. Apodaca added, “We get together and celebrate this. It’s kind of an event for us.”

Blount said the Lobos-Aggies games are a reunion of sorts, where they see old friends from high school. She said rivalries can get heated, but the shooting was a bad reflection on the state.

“It made national news. It’s not a good way to portray New Mexico. We want a good name for ourselves,” Blount said.

Apodaca said the games being canceled was unfortunate, but he believed “they were looking out for our safety in general.”

“And it’s basketball, you know, it’s not that deep,” he said.

Alvin Sallee sat courtside with his son Charles and granddaughter Violet, decked out in Aggies gear. Alvin Sallee said he remembered listening to the matchups on the radio as a child.

Although he grew up in Albuquerque and his mother was once Miss Lobo, Sallee’s family is tied to Aggies history since he took a job there as a teacher. Charles Sallee said he was a ball boy for the Aggies “in their heyday.”

Now the family, which lives in Santa Fe, makes the trek to Albuquerque and sometimes to Las Cruces to catch the matchup.

Alvin Sallee said he knew the rivalry would outlast any controversy.

“It just hit pause. It never was going to go away,” he said.

Charles Sallee said the play between the two teams can be electric.

“It’s great,” Charles Sallee said. “Especially when both teams are really good, really clicking.”

Michael Yannoni, clad in a Lobo cape and Venom mask — a Halloween costume he wore to a game three years ago and stuck — said it was hard not having this game last year.

“As a fan, I was really hurt. I understand the reasoning for canceling it, but it felt like they ripped a piece of us out and it was just gone,” he said.

Yannoni said tensions can run high and fights happen occasionally, but “that’s what comes with a rivalry.” There is a much larger positive piece to it, he said.

“Yes, it’s a rivalry ... but it actually brings our state together, and I feel like we missed that last year,” Yannoni said. “This one is always my favorite.”