Lobo basketball: As new season tickets go on sale, Olen loves buzz around Eck's football team

Lobo basketball has always taken top billing in Albuquerque.

And while three games into a new football season has brought with it an unusually high dose of optimism and excitement for new coach Jason Eck’s gridiron gang, as new season tickets went on sale for the coming hoops season with more than 7,000 renewals already in pocket still seven weeks away from the season opener, it’s clear the Lobo basketball base hasn’t gone anywhere.

And first-year hoops coach Eric Olen — who is facing even more of a roster rebuild than Eck — is more than happy to share the marquee.

“I don’t really think about it relative to us,” Olen said Tuesday after being asked how he felt about football getting so much more attention than basketball at the moment, even if it is still the offseason.

“I’m just fired up for our football team and the success that they’re having. I mean, we’re all Lobos. We want everybody to be successful, so it’s fun to watch the way they’re playing and competing. (I’m a) big fan of coach Eck and what he’s doing. ... We’re fired up to watch them a week from Saturday (against NMSU). Our group will be there and hopefully the rest of Albuquerque will be out there as well.”

Last season’s season ticket total, with roughly seven weeks until the season opener, was 8,253 and renewals were around 85%, as they are this year.

“We’re excited about the home slate that we have ... a lot of home games early in the year, in the nonconference,” Olen said. “We’ve been hearing about the Pit since we took over, and we can’t wait to see everybody there.”

New season tickets can be purchased at golobos.com/tickets and start at $199.

Past season ticket holders can still renew, but with new sales started, last season’s seats may no longer be guaranteed to be available.

Silent films?

While Eck got plenty of buzz for his social media presence in the past several months, including his showing off his acting chops in a video for a ticket promotion over the summer, the soft-spoken Olen admits he isn’t optimistic he’ll be able to match Eck’s performance.

“Coach set the bar really high, so I don’t know if we’ll see me in the same role,” Olen laughed. “I might be more of a silent film type actor if we’re making comparisons there.”

So, about the Pit

Sure, everyone says the Pit is one of the toughest places in the country to play, but do the stats actually bear that out? ... And not just win percentage. After all, not all home scheduled are built the same.

College hoops journalist Ryan Hammer, recently posted data from the past three seasons for all Division I basketball teams with a formula that weighed four factors deemed important to judging a home court advantage: home vs. road winning percentage, opponent’s NET rating, the opponent’s shooting percentage and average home attendance.

While he did not specify exactly how those numbers fit together to formulate his Top 10 lists, Lobo fans surely disagree with whatever the formula was because the Pit was not among the Top 10 teams on his non-power conference list, though it (and NMSU’s Pan American Center in Las Cruces) were among the five “honorable mentions.”

Dayton led the non-power conference list at No. 1 while Mountain West teams Boise State/Extra Mile Arena (No. 5) and San Diego State/Viejas Arena (No. 6) were each in the Top 10. Grand Canyon, a first-year Mountain West member, is also one of the five “honorable mention” teams.

Fair and balanced

While all 12 Mountain West programs have been given their tentative league schedules for men’s basketball, the league will not release the official, final league schedule until television partners pick their games for the season, which could shift some dates.

More than half the league’s schools have chosen to go ahead and make their tentative schedules public. This season is shifting back to an unbalanced schedule that leaves every team “missing” one opponent at home and one on the road.

Based on the schedules that have been released, here is the slate of “missed” games this coming season:

• Air Force — vs. Boise State, at Utah State
• Boise State — vs. Fresno State, at Air Force
• Colorado State — vs. Grand Canyon, at Nevada
• Fresno State — vs. San Diego State, at Boise State
• Grand Canyon — vs. Nevada, at Colorado State
• Nevada — vs. Colorado State, at Grand Canyon
• New Mexico — vs. UNLV, at Wyoming
• San Diego State — vs. San Jose State, at Fresno State
• San Jose State — vs. Utah State, at San Diego State
• UNLV — vs. Wyoming, at New Mexico
• Utah State — vs. Air Force, at San Jose State
• Wyoming — vs. New Mexico, at UNLV