Mountain West adds men's soccer; UNM won't be reinstating its cut program

Men’s soccer is coming to the Mountain West. Just not to the University of New Mexico.

The Mountain West conference on Wednesday announced it is adding to the league sponsorship of men’s soccer and men’s swimming and diving as NCAA-sanctioned, varsity sports starting in the 2026-27 academic year.

“The addition of men’s soccer and men’s swimming and diving to the Mountain West represents a bold step forward in our commitment to broad-based excellence,” Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said in a statement. “These sports not only elevate our competitive profile but also reflect the growing interest and investment from our member institutions.”

While the highly publicized, and politicized, cutting of UNM’s popular men’s soccer program in 2018 is still a painful wound to many in the Albuquerque community, the school on Wednesday confirmed it is not in a position to bring the program back.

“We recognize that this announcement may raise questions given UNM’s proud history in men’s soccer and the program’s previous success on the national stage,” UNM said in a statement released to the Journal on Wednesday evening. “This is a positive step for the Conference, and we’re supportive of efforts that expand opportunities for student-athletes across the Mountain West.

“In 2018, UNM made the difficult decision to discontinue men’s soccer due to several factors, including financial constraints, conference alignment challenges, and the need to maintain Title IX compliance. Those factors were not unique to UNM; rather, they reflected the broader financial realities facing many public universities and athletic departments across the country. Since that time, UNM Athletics has remained focused on ensuring fiscal sustainability and maintaining full Title IX compliance.

“While the Mountain West’s decision to sponsor men’s soccer is exciting, UNM has made no changes to its current sport sponsorship plans. At this time, our focus remains on strengthening and supporting our existing sport programs competitively, financially, and operationally for long-term success.”

UNM also has no plans to add men’s swimming and diving.

The cutting of men’s soccer got rolling on April 17, 2018, when the UNM Board of Regents concluded a three-hour meeting with a 6-1 vote to pass an Athletics Department budget that included several cost-cutting measures, including a “reduction in sports.”

By July 2018, after citing finances, Title IX compliance issues and, yes, even the fact that the Mountain West did not sponsor men’s soccer, UNM announced it would cut men’s soccer, men’s and women’s skiing and women’s beach volleyball.

The UNM men’s soccer team played in one national championship game (2005), two Final Fours, made 12 NCAA Tournaments (all between 2001 and 2016) and won eight conference championships. At the time it was cut, the program played in Conference USA and previously was a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

In addition...

The Mountain West also announced on Wednesday the addition of Utah Tech as an affiliate member for baseball and men’s soccer — an addition that enables both sports to get to the NCAA-mandated minimum number of schools in the league participating in those sports to be recognized by the NCAA.

Starting in 2026, MW men’s soccer will include Air Force, UC-Davis, Grand Canyon, San Jose State, UNLV and Utah Tech.

Men’s swimming and diving, which had been in the MW until 2011, will include Air Force, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, UNLV and Wyoming.

As for baseball, which UNM does still play, the 2026 MW lineup includes Air Force, UC-Davis, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Nevada, UNM, San Jose State, UNLV and Utah Tech.