MBB Schedule Taking Shape

CUSA Schedule Released Thursday and UTEP Home-and-Home Announced Friday Morning.

Jul 10, 2026

Hey there, Aggies fans.

Thank you once again for reading AGGREGATOR, subscribing to AGGREGATOR, and most importantly, loving your New Mexico State Aggies.

I am constantly amazed by the support you’ve shown this publication since I launched it in October 2023. As I head into my fourth basketball season and third football season covering New Mexico State athletics full time, I can honestly tell you this: things are only getting better.

I also want to thank you because the publication continues to grow. Gross revenue is up nearly 20 percent over last year, paid subscriptions have increased 17.6 percent, and I’ve welcomed several new subscribers just in the past week. That means the world to me.

Today, AGGREGATOR has 4,850 total subscribers between free and paid readers.

For comparison, the Las Cruces Sun-News still lists a circulation figure of 22,000 on its Wikipedia page, but that number is from 2011.

A lot has changed in the newspaper industry over the past 15 years. While I can’t say exactly what their readership is today, I can say that AGGREGATOR has grown into one of the largest dedicated audiences for New Mexico State athletics anywhere. I promise my numbers are close to LCSN’s numbers.

That is because of you.

I don’t enjoy talking about my business or revenue, which is why I’ve blacked out those numbers in the graphic. But I do want you to know what your subscription means.

That $5 a month or $50 a year has allowed me to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on, pay for the subscriptions I need to watch Aggies games on the road, and devote myself to covering New Mexico State every single day.

I work from my home office, but that doesn’t mean I take days off. I spend countless hours writing, researching, making phone calls, networking, and finding stories that I believe Aggies fans deserve to read.

Because of your support, I’ve also been fortunate enough to expand beyond AGGREGATOR and write for Athlon Sports’ 2026 College Football Preview. Opportunities like that simply don’t happen without readers believing in independent journalism.

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NM STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE TAKING SHAPE - UTEP AGREES TO HOME AND HOME + CUSA RELEASES CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

With sincere apologies to the New Mexico State women’s basketball team, I already have a separate column written that I’ll publish either Saturday or Sunday covering the Aggies’ schedule release and how their 2026-27 slate is taking shape.

But Friday morning brought some breaking news that bumped that column back a couple of days.

UTEP Athletics officially announced on X that New Mexico State and UTEP will continue their rivalry on the hardwood with a home-and-home series. Despite no longer sharing a conference after spending the past three seasons together in Conference USA, the Aggies and Miners will once again meet twice during the regular season, with one game at the Pan American Center and the other at the Don Haskins Center.

The announcement from UTEP also came on the heels of Conference USA releasing New Mexico State’s complete conference schedule for the upcoming season yesterday.

Here was that announcement from NM State

This one goes without saying. With UTEP no longer on the Conference USA schedule and Louisiana Tech departing for the Sun Belt, Conference USA is now a 10-team league. That creates a clean 18-game conference schedule, meaning New Mexico State will need at least 13 non-conference games and possibly 14 under the new NCAA rules that allow teams to play up to 32 regular-season games beginning in 2026-27.

One stretch that immediately stands out is a three-game homestand from Jan. 14 through Jan. 23 against Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State and Sam Houston before the Aggies head east for road games at Delaware on Jan. 28 and Liberty on Jan. 30.

Conference play officially opens on New Year’s Eve against Florida International at the Pan American Center, followed by Missouri State on Jan. 2. No game times have been announced, although I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the New Year’s Eve game tips off around 7 p.m., meaning your holiday festivities may have to wait a little while.

Personally, my wife and I watch Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen every New Year’s Eve, so I’ll be a little disappointed if Aggies basketball gets in the way. Just kidding, I will DVR New Year’s Eve on TV. Yes, I will do that.

As for the Missouri State game, if Conference USA follows the same scheduling pattern as last season, I’d expect a Saturday afternoon tipoff. The league generally likes to get teams home Saturday evening rather than having them travel on Sunday.

The final home games of the regular season are Feb. 25 against Liberty and Feb. 27 against Delaware before the Aggies close the regular season on the road March 4 at Missouri State and March 6 at Florida International.

By the way, I still have no idea why Missouri State and Florida International are travel partners. I suppose that’s one of the realities of a conference that stretches across so much of the country.

The Conference USA Tournament follows the next week at Propst Arena inside the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

As of Friday morning, no game times or television assignments have been announced. Historically, most Thursday conference games tip around 7 p.m., while Saturday games are usually played in the afternoon. Road games at schools like Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky also tend to start earlier in the day, making for late-morning or early-afternoon starts here in New Mexico.

Conference USA remains partnered with CBS Sports Network. Last season, New Mexico State appeared three times on CBS Sports Network and once on ESPNU. With the conference shrinking from 12 teams to 10, there’s a reasonable chance the Aggies could receive the same number of national television appearances—or perhaps even a few more.

All of this schedule talk comes on the heels of Gonzaga announcing that it will host New Mexico State at the McCarthey Athletic Center, better known as “The Kennel,” in Spokane, Washington, on Saturday, Nov. 7.

We also already know the annual Rio Grande Rivalry matchup with New Mexico will be played Dec. 5 at The Pit powered by Nusenda in Albuquerque.

Now add the newly announced home-and-home series with UTEP, beginning Nov. 12 at the Don Haskins Center before shifting to the Pan American Center on Nov. 19, and New Mexico State’s schedule is starting to take shape in a hurry.

Between the 18-game Conference USA slate, Gonzaga, New Mexico and the two games against UTEP, the Aggies now have 22 games on the schedule. Under the NCAA’s new 32-game maximum for the 2026-27 season, that leaves room for as many as 10 additional non-conference games.

If the Aggies can get into a 2 or 3 game MTE, then you throw in the nominal games against D2 NM Opponents (NMHU, ENMU, WNMU, etc) and maybe a game against Northern NM or University of the Southwest in NAIA (I know, Aggies fans, I don’t like them either,) then the Aggies may just need to find 3-4 more games total. Hopefully NMSU will splurge on 1-2 D1 home games instead of neutral site games.

Here’s the schedule as CURRENTLY constructed:

November

Nov. 7 – at Gonzaga (Away)
Nov. 12 – at UTEP (Away)
Nov. 19 – UTEP (Home)

December

Dec. 5 – at New Mexico (Away)
Dec. 31 – FIU (Home)

January

Jan. 2 – Missouri State (Home)
Jan. 7 – at Western Kentucky (Away)
Jan. 9 – at Middle Tennessee (Away)
Jan. 14 – Jacksonville State (Home)
Jan. 16 – Kennesaw State (Home)
Jan. 23 – Sam Houston (Home)
Jan. 28 – at Delaware (Away)
Jan. 30 – at Liberty (Away)

February

Feb. 4 – Middle Tennessee (Home)
Feb. 6 – Western Kentucky (Home)
Feb. 11 – at Kennesaw State (Away)
Feb. 13 – at Jacksonville State (Away)
Feb. 20 – at Sam Houston (Away)
Feb. 25 – Liberty (Home)
Feb. 27 – Delaware (Home)

March

Mar. 4 – at Missouri State (Away)
Mar. 6 – at FIU (Away)

BELOW IS MY ATTEMPT TO DECIPHER THE REST OF THE SKED

Now here’s my best guess as where the rest of the games will land…

My guesses in bold

November

Nov. 2 or 3rd - Home Game vs Non-D1 Opponent
Nov. 7 – at Gonzaga (Away)
Nov. 10th - Home Game vs Non-D1 Opponent
Nov. 12 – at UTEP (Away)
Nov. 19 – UTEP (Home)
Nov. 21 - Home Game vs D1 Opponent
Nov. 23-27 - 2 Game MTE Out of State

December

Dec. 3 - Home Game vs D1 Opponent
Dec. 5 – at New Mexico (Away)

December 7th-11th - 1 or 2 Road/Neutral Site Games

Week of December 7th is a blackout period at home because of commencement at Pan Am - Could be a pair of road/neutral games here to get to 32 games

Coach Hooten told me last year that they could not schedule after commencement and when grading is happening so there’s a natural break after that to the week before Christmas.

December 19th - Home Game vs D1
Dec. 22 – Home vs. NON D-1

Conference

Dec. 31 – FIU (Home)

January

February

March

Mar. 4 – at Missouri State (Away)
Mar. 6 – at FIU (Away)

My guesses get us to 31-32 games depending on if NMSU lands an MTE (Multi-Team Event) during “Feast Week” as ESPN calls it!

Just trying to fill in the blanks on this schedule is enough to make my head explode, so I’m going to leave it there for now.

As I mentioned, everything on that second projected schedule, specifically the games in bold, is purely speculation on my part. I’ll reach out to Jason Hooten, and as always, if he shares anything with me in confidence, it’ll stay in confidence until New Mexico State is ready to announce it.

From what we know today, though, I really like the way this schedule is shaping up. Coach Hooten enters his fourth season with a veteran roster, some quality non-conference tests, and what appears to be a favorable Conference USA slate. I think there’s a lot for Aggies fans to be excited about heading into the 2026-27 season.

Until next time, Aggie fanatics, thank you so very much for reading AGGREGATOR. Thank you again for all of your support, and I’ll talk to you soon.

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