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UNM basketball: 20-game conference hoops schedule released
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The title defense begins Dec. 20.
The University of New Mexico on Thursday released a “shell” version of the 2025-26 Mountain West schedule — one that could have slight alterations once television networks select games to broadcast.
The conference, and some league schools, will not release the official league schedule until the broadcast decisions have been made.
We now know that while more than a few things have changed for the program in the 288 days between the last Mountain West game played in the Pit (a March 7 win over UNLV that culminated in confetti-filled league championship celebration on Bob King Court) and this coming season’s first league game against San Jose State in the Pit on Dec. 20, one thing remains true: It is still the Lobos’ title to defend.
Following an 11-game nonconference slate, the Lobos open league play — new coach Eric Olen’s first Mountain West game — at home on Dec. 20 against Tim Miles and the San Jose State Spartans. A Dec. 30 trip to play Leon Rice’s Boise State Broncos wraps up the month, leading to a nine-game month of January with home games against Wyoming (Jan. 3), league newcomer Grand Canyon (Jan. 13), Fresno State (Jan. 20) and Nevada (Jan. 24) and that familiar-looking bench that includes former Lobo head coaches Steve Alford and Craig Neal.
February Pit games include Utah State (Feb. 3), Boise State (Feb. 7), Air Force (Feb. 17) and SDSU (Feb. 28).
The final Pit game of the season will be March 3 vs. Colorado State, one of five Mountain West teams leaving the league after this season.
Because of the offseason addition of GCU, the league shifted back to an unbalanced schedule format due to having 12 teams. That means instead of playing every league opponent once at home and once on the road, each MW team will miss playing one team on the road and one team at home.
For the Lobos, their “misses” are at Wyoming and versus UNLV.
That means new UNLV coach Josh Pastner’s August request — made on the Journal’s Talking Grammer podcast — for boos from Lobo fans won’t be happening this season — at least not in the Pit.
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“When they announce me as head coach and they announce our starting five, I want to hear the echo chambers of the Pit so loud with boos, I want to hear it so loud that all throughout the state of New Mexico they think it’s an earthquake or something,” Pastner said.
“That’s the kind of reception that I want from everyone there — the loudest boos that they can have. And then, when we play at UNLV, at the Thomas & Mack (Center), I want the same thing.”
The Mountain West tournament will be in UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center March 11-14.
Due to the new 12-team set up for men’s and women’s basketball, the tournament will now give byes into the quarterfinal round to just the top four seeds (it used to be the top five seeds) and the women’s tournament will now be completed before the men’s tournament begins.
The women’s tournament runs Saturday, March 7, through Tuesday, March 10. The first round of the men’s tournament — seeds 5-12 — will be Wednesday, March 11, and run through Saturday, March 14.
