May 31 — The UNM Lobos will play the UCLA Bruins in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November.
The Journal on Friday reviewed the contract signed by UNM with the event organizer – GS Global Sports, LLC. The contract states that UNM will play the Big Ten’s UCLA at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 8 in an event that does not yet have a formal name.
“We are excited about the opportunity to play against one of college basketball’s iconic brands with UCLA,” said Lobos coach Richard Pitino. “This will be one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in our program’s history. We look forward to the challenge”
The game is one that signals a significant increase in non-conference competition over the UNM norm (not just recently, but historically).
Last season, despite a final NET ranking of 26, eight wins over NCAA Tournament teams, five Quadrant 1 wins and 26 wins overall, the chairman of the NCAA Selection Committee said on March 17 that the Lobos They wouldn’t have made the NCAA Tournament if they didn’t win four games in four days to secure the Mountain West Tournament championship and earn the automatic berth in the league.
UNM’s nonconference strength of schedule last season, according to the team sheet used to compile the NET rankings, was 220th out of 362 Division I teams.
Although the UCLA game has been agreed upon for some time, the contracts had not been finalized as of Thursday. CBS Sports Jon Rothstein first reported the game on Friday, stating that the schools were “finalizing a deal.”
Each school has a unique contract with the event organizer. The Journal looked only at the UNM contract. Among other contract details: Each school receives 15 hotel rooms and 75 game tickets. Big Ten officials will be assigned to the game. The Mountain West owns the TV rights to the game.
UNM and UCLA have played four times before, with the series tied at 2-2. UNM beat the No. 7 Bruins 65-60 in 1983; the Lobos won 77-66 in the Pit in the Preseason NIT in 1987; the Bruins, ranked 17th, beat UNM 106-41 in Los Angeles in 1954; and the Bruins also won in the only meeting in which both were ranked, No. 15 UCLA beat No. 8 UNM 69-58, at the Wooden Legacy tournament in Anaheim, California, in 1997.
With the Mountain West Conference moving to a 20-game league schedule, UNM’s usual 13-game non-conference slate was shortened by two games. The school still requires, for budget and season ticket purposes, 18 home games. Ten will be in league games, one of the two preseason contests will be at the Pit and then seven of the Lobos’ 11 non-conference games will be at the Pit, leaving four spots open for road or neutral site games.
UNM has already announced it will play the Big East’s St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17; competing in the two-game Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, California, on November 28 and 29 against the Big 12’s Arizona State and then either USC (Big Ten) or Saint Mary’s (West Coast Conference). The UCLA (Big Ten) game in Las Vegas completes the four games away from the Pit.
Earlier this week, the Journal reported that UNM and New Mexico State will play just once this non-conference season, breaking the long-standing tradition of playing a home-and-home non-conference series each season. The schools have agreed to alternate play in front of the site of the annual rivalry football game, meaning this season the men’s basketball game between the Lobos and Aggies will be at the Pit (Dec. 7), one of seven home games away. of the conference.
Other non-conference games at the Pit include Grambling State (as part of the Acrisure Classic campus games) and VCU, which kicks off a home-and-home series that will have UNM playing at VCU in 2025.
There are four regular season home games at the Pit yet to be announced.
