Aug. 3, 2009
Complete Schedule in PDF Format 
The 2009-10 University of New Mexico men’s basketball schedule features 19 home games, highlighted by non-conference contests against California, Creighton, Dayton, New Mexico State and Texas Tech.
The Lobos will also play five non-conference games away from The Pit for the fourth consecutive season, including a neutral-site clash against Texas A&M in Houston.
As of this writing, 20 of the Lobos’ 31 regular-season games will be televised, including 15 of the 16 Mountain West Conference tilts. Additional televised games will be announced at a later date.
The 107th season gets underway on Nov. 3 when the Lobos host New Mexico Highlands in an exhibition. The regular season begins 11 days later as UNM and UC Riverside meet for the first time on Nov. 14.
The annual in-state rivalry with New Mexico State begins early this season as the two foes play Nov. 17 in Las Cruces with the return game in The Pit on Dec. 5.
UNM hosts the Basketball Travelers tournament Nov. 20-22. The Lobos will be joined by Louisiana Tech, Miami (Ohio) and Nicholls State in the round-robin format over three days.
The Lobos visit the University of Hawai’i over the Thanksgiving break (Nov. 27) before embarking on a very challenging stretch of nine games to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule.
December begins with New Mexico entertaining California on Dec. 2. The Bears return four starters from last year’s NCAA Tournament team.
UNM visits the University of San Diego for the second straight season on Dec. 9, followed by the neutral site game against Texas A&M in Houston on Dec. 12.
Four of the Lobos’ final five non-conference contests will be played in The Pit: Northern Arizona, Creighton, Texas Tech and Dayton on Jan. 1, 2010. UNM visits Oral Roberts on Dec. 23.
Creighton and Dayton each won 27 games a year ago. The Flyers return four starters from last year’s team that finished 27-8 overall and 11-5 in the Atlantic 10. They lost to Kansas in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament and had a final RPI of 27.
MWC play starts Jan. 5 at San Diego State. The MWC Championship is March 10-13 in Las Vegas.
“The biggest thing is to keep progressing as a program and this schedule makes that possible,” said third-year head coach Steve Alford. “This is arguably one of our most challenging schedules especially with a roster that has eight freshmen and sophomores. We will be playing solid programs with really good coaches. Most of our non-conference opponents have a lot of returning players. Like our first two years, we want to get better as the season goes along.”
2009-10 Schedule Notes
Of the Lobos’ 14 non-conference opponents for the upcoming season:
Nine had winning records last year, 5 won at least 20 games, including 2 (Creighton / Dayton) that won 27
Only 4 schools had losing records
Three played in the NCAA Tournament (Cal, Dayton, Texas A&M)
Four had a season-ending RPI in the top-50, five were in the top-100 and seven were in the top-150
The RPI rating is from NCAA.com after the completion of the 2008-09 season
Thumbnails on the 2009-10 non-conference opponents.
UC Riverside – Saturday, Nov. 14: 17-13 last year and 8-8 in the Big West…five of top-six scorers return…UNM’s first meeting against the Highlanders.
New Mexico State – Tuesday, Nov. 17 and Saturday, Dec. 5: 17-15 last year and a final RPI of 120…9-7 in the WAC, tying for third place…all five starters return for the Aggies…Lobos won both games last year for first time since 2004, 76-62 in Albuquerque and 68-66 at the Pan Am Center.
Nicholls State – Friday, Nov. 20: 20-11 last year…final RPI of 156…finished 2nd in the East Division of the Southland Conference at 12-4.
Louisiana Tech – Saturday, Nov. 21: 15-18 overall and 6-10 in the Western Athletic Conference…top five scorers return in 2009-10…UNM won only previous meeting, 90-84 in 1992 postseason NIT in The Pit.
Miami (Ohio) – Sunday, Nov. 22: 17-13 overall and tied for 3rd in the Mid-American Conference at 10-6…final RPI of 85…Lobos won 63-55 in The Pit in December of 1991.
Hawai’i – Friday, Nov. 27: 13-17 overall and 5-11 in the WAC…UNM won 79-69 at Honolulu on Dec. 27, 2007…Hawai’i had no seniors on last year’s team.
California – Wednesday, Dec. 2: 22-11 overall and 11-7 in the Pac-10…lost to Maryland in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament…final RPI of 43…Cal has 4-1 lead in the series, including 68-66 win at Berkeley in 1st round of the 2008 postseason NIT…Bears return four starters for 2009-10…Lobos scheduled to play at Berkeley in 2010-11.
San Diego – Wednesday, Dec. 9: 16-16 overall and 6-8 in the West Coast Conference…Lobos won 57-54 last year in San Diego and 57-47 two years ago in The Pit.
Texas A&M – Saturday, Dec. 12: 24-10 overall and 9-7 in the Big 12…final RPI of 32…lost to UConn in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament…four starters return in 2009-10…UNM leads all-time series 5-1…last meeting was Dec. 3, 1992, a 71-69 Lobo victory in The Pit.
Northern Arizona – Wednesday, Dec. 16: 8-19 overall and 5-11 in the Big Sky…four starters and top-four scorers return in 2009-10…Lobos won last meeting 81-70 in Albuquerque on Nov. 27, 2004.
Creighton – Saturday, Dec. 19: 27-8 overall…lost to Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NIT…final RPI of 48…Lobos fell 82-75 last year in Omaha…Bluejays playing in Albuquerque for the first time since Dec. 28, 1967.
Oral Roberts – Wednesday, Dec. 23: 16-15 overall and 14-4 in the Summit League…UNM overcame a 34-19 halftime deficit to win 66-63 last year in The Pit.
Texas Tech – Tuesday, Dec. 29: 14-19 overall and 3-13 in the Big 12…final RPI of 119…Red Raiders won 86-78 last year in Lubbock.
Dayton – Friday, Jan. 1: 27-8 overall and 11-5 in the Atlantic 10…final RPI of 27…lost to Kansas in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament…four starters return in 2009-10…last meeting against UNM was in The Pit on Nov. 19, 1999, a 70-57 Dayton victory…Lobos scheduled to play at Dayton in 2010-11.