Did UNM football take a non-conference game away from NMSU? Yes and no.

Scheduling convenience or rivalry ploy?

That question was raised when a home-and-home series was announced last week between New Mexico and Central Michigan, starting on Sept. 5, 2026 in Albuquerque — the same day rival New Mexico State was scheduled to play the Chippewas in Las Cruces.

While the CMU game wraps up UNM’s 2026 nonconference schedule, it leaves NMSU with an open date; it’s unclear who the Aggies will now play on Sept. 5, 2026.

So did UNM take a nonconference game from its rival?

Yes — and no.

NMSU scheduled its home-and-home series with the Chippewas while it was a football independent, dropping the first game 42-28 on Oct. 12, 2019 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. But after joining Conference USA in 2023, getting out of the second CMU game made sense to help the program comply with league scheduling demands, an NMSU spokesman told the Journal.

Per a contract posted on UNM athletics’ website, NMSU and CMU agreed to not play the second game and terminated the agreement, leaving the Chippewas and Aggies with open dates. The contract between UNM and CMU was signed in late October, predating UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo’s hiring by one month.

Lovo said he did not know if CMU or UNM reached out to the other first, or how both parties worked it out with NMSU. CMU Athletic Director Amy Folan did not respond to an inquiry about the scheduling.

But UNM's 2026 nonconference schedule — one game each against a Power 4, Group of Five and FCS opponent, in addition to NMSU — represents an ideal schedule for the Lobos, Lovo said.

In a break from normal scheduling practice, UNM played two “buy games” against Power 4 opponents last season (Arizona and Auburn) and will play another two this season (Michigan and UCLA) before reverting back to Lovo’s preferred nonconference setup in 2026.

“The days of playing two buy games, right, guarantee games — they’re not only more challenging on the teams, but they’re becoming more difficult to find given conference realignment and the SEC potentially going to nine games and all that other stuff,” he told the Journal on Monday.

UNM will pay CMU $200,000 for the first game in 2026 with no money being exchanged for the return game on Sept. 8, 2029. With additional nonconference contests against FCS Mercyhurst (Sept. 12, 2026), Oklahoma (Sept. 19) and NMSU (TBA), the Lobos are set to pay out a total of $550,000 to the Chippewas and Lakers while receiving the remainder of a $1.6 million payment from the Sooners.

UNM’s nonconference schedule for 2027 is also complete, featuring games against Northern Colorado (Sept. 4) and NMSU (TBA) and at Oregon State (Sept. 11) and Texas A&M (Sept. 18). The Lobos still have to add two more games each in 2028 and 2029 to complete nonconference schedules.

The Mountain West is set to lose five teams to the Pac-12 after this season. Lovo said those departures have not changed how UNM is approaching football schedules.

“I haven’t felt any impact of that since I’ve been here, in terms of scheduling,” he said.