ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team has released the Mountain West portion of its schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 season. The remainder of the non-conference schedule will be released on Friday.
Entering Craig Neal’s fourth season as the head coach of the Lobos, the program is expected to host 15 regular season games inside WisePies Arena. While the non-conference portion of the schedule will be released Friday, UNM has previously announced non-conference games hosting UTEP, at Arizona, at Illinois State (MW/MVC Challenge), a home and home with New Mexico State and the Wooden Legacy Classic.. Joning the Lobos in that field are Cal State Northridge, Dayton, Nebraska, Portland, Texas A&M, UCLA and Virginia Tech.
Mountain West Conference action is set to begin for New Mexico at home on Dec. 28 against the defending tournament champions, Fresno State. From there, the Lobos travel to San Diego State for a New Year’s Eve showdown. New Mexico remains on the road for its next outing, a Jan. 4 game at Utah State.
On Jan. 7 and Jan. 11, the Lobos will play back-to-back home games against Nevada and UNLV. The home stand is followed by another two-game road trip, at Colorado State Jan. 14 and Boise State on Jan. 18.
Beginning Jan. 21 against Wyoming, the Lobos will play three of their next five games at home. The Wyoming game is followed by a home game against Utah State Jan. 25. The Lobos then move on to a Nevada road trip, facing the Wolf Pack Jan. 28 and UNLV Feb. 1. New Mexico will play its only game against San Jose State at home Feb. 4.
After a road game at Air Force on Feb. 8, the Lobos will have their first of two February bye dates on Feb. 11. With a week of rest, the Lobos will host Boise State on Feb. 15. Three days later, the Lobos travel to Fresno, California to face the Bulldogs.
The second-to-last home game of the season is set for Feb. 22 against Colorado State. The Lobos’ final regular season road game is next on Feb. 25 at Wyoming, followed by the Lobos’ second bye date of the season on March 1. After the bye date, the Lobos will host San Diego State on senior night for the second straight season March 4.
Due to the non-round robin schedule, UNM will not host Air Force and will not travel to San Jose State. The 2017 MW Championship Tournament will take place from March 8-11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tipoff times are set to be released as the season approaches, and all conference dates are subject to change. Check back with GoLobos.com for information on the Lobos’ exhibition dates.