New Mexico opens a difficult stretch Saturday night at Santa Clara, and the timing matters. The Lobos are unbeaten, but the next two weeks will give Eric Olen’s team a much clearer picture of where it stands as an NCAA Tournament candidate.
Through the first three games, New Mexico has averaged 96.0 points per game, but that production has come against lesser opponents and has been helped by points off turnovers. The challenge changes now. Santa Clara is a preseason West Coast Conference favorite, and Olen said the level is going up as the schedule gets more demanding.
A road test with real value
Olen called Santa Clara a great opportunity on the road, noting that it was an NCAA Tournament team last year and is again capable of playing at that level. That is the kind of matchup New Mexico needs when its Mountain West schedule may no longer provide as many quality games as it once did.
The Mountain West’s new makeup appears likely to cut in half the number of quality in-conference games it was used to in past years, which makes the non-conference slate even more important. Power conference teams won’t schedule New Mexico, so the Lobos have to make the most of the opportunities they do get.
Why the next two weeks matter
Rob Dauster noted that New Mexico has six non-conference games against Top 100 opponents and four total games against teams inside the top 100 in league play, with UNLV at No. 100 right now. The next stretch includes a road game at Wichita State on Nov. 21, a meeting with Utah State on Nov. 29 and a game against Saint Mary’s on Dec. 12.
That is why these games carry so much weight. As Dauster put it, the eight extra bids available in the expanded NCAA Tournament are a carrot for the best teams to chase, but the teams they are competing against for those spots are the teams they are facing in the next two weeks. A loss would not only be a missed opportunity, it would also help the teams New Mexico may be battling for those bids.
Andy Katz said New Mexico has the goods to be an NCAA Tournament team and pointed to Jake Hall as a potential top 10 All-American. Katz also emphasized that the Lobos cannot rely only on the Mountain West schedule and need to handle business in the non-conference if they want to improve their at-large position.
In other words, Saturday night is more than a road game. It is the start of a stretch that could shape how New Mexico is viewed when the Big Dance conversation gets serious.
