Post by CrimsonPhantom on Dec 19, 2020 11:12:00 GMT -7
The last time the New Mexico State Aggies men’s basketball team didn’t play in the figurative Battle of I-10 and Battle of I-25 against the UTEP Miners and UNM Lobos, respectively, was when the literal battles of World War II led to the cancellation of the 1942-43 and 1943-44 seasons.
As it stands now, it appears the rivalry games – at least the UTEP series – will fall victim to the uncertainty of scheduling in the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 season.
UTEP on Friday announced it has scheduled a Dec. 28 game against NAIA Our Lady of the Lake, the same team New Mexico played on Tuesday in Houston. In its announcement of the game, UTEP states the game will “finalize” the Miners’ non-conference schedule and the team will then focus on its Conference USA schedule.
“Well, New Mexico State’s been shut down twice, so I don’t know how you play them,” UTEP coach Rodney Terry told KTSM Sports in El Paso. “… There was a lot of conversation and dialogue about that, but there’s always been an open invitation to come here (to El Paso) and play here.”
The two teams usually play twice per season – once in Las Cruces and once in El Paso, usually in November or December. Getting those games scheduled had several hurdles, starting with the NCAA pushing the start of the season back two weeks, followed by the public health order in New Mexico preventing both NMSU and UNM from practicing or playing in the state and more recently NMSU’s 12-day “pause” in activities due to two positive COVID-19 tests in its program.
Monday, Aggies coach Chris Jans had made clear how much he still wants the rivalry games played, but understood scheduling is challenging.
“(But that) doesn’t change my stance from day one, that they’re critical and important to our program, to our fan base, to theirs as well,” Jans said. “I don’t have a feel for exactly the importance for other programs, and I don’t like to talk about those type of matters. But this pause has certainly made it more difficult, because everybody’s got to do their thing, you know? Everybody’s gotta schedule their games and you can’t sit back and wait and hold dates going, ‘Well, if they get off pause, we can play it here.’ You can’t work like that. And then conference play, obviously, is beginning, so it’s more difficult.”
As for Aggies-Lobos, both athletic directors – NMSU’s Mario Moccia and UNM’s Eddie Nuñez – had essentially the same message. Continuing the in-state rivalry in some fashion, even if not in the usual home-and-home manner (neither can play on its campus at the moment, anyway), is important. But the Lobos start Mountain West Conference play on Monday, making finding time for a non-conference rivalry game at an unknown location a tall order.
“The windows get smaller … the deeper we get into the season,” Jans said.
As it stands now, it appears the rivalry games – at least the UTEP series – will fall victim to the uncertainty of scheduling in the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 season.
UTEP on Friday announced it has scheduled a Dec. 28 game against NAIA Our Lady of the Lake, the same team New Mexico played on Tuesday in Houston. In its announcement of the game, UTEP states the game will “finalize” the Miners’ non-conference schedule and the team will then focus on its Conference USA schedule.
“Well, New Mexico State’s been shut down twice, so I don’t know how you play them,” UTEP coach Rodney Terry told KTSM Sports in El Paso. “… There was a lot of conversation and dialogue about that, but there’s always been an open invitation to come here (to El Paso) and play here.”
The two teams usually play twice per season – once in Las Cruces and once in El Paso, usually in November or December. Getting those games scheduled had several hurdles, starting with the NCAA pushing the start of the season back two weeks, followed by the public health order in New Mexico preventing both NMSU and UNM from practicing or playing in the state and more recently NMSU’s 12-day “pause” in activities due to two positive COVID-19 tests in its program.
Monday, Aggies coach Chris Jans had made clear how much he still wants the rivalry games played, but understood scheduling is challenging.
“(But that) doesn’t change my stance from day one, that they’re critical and important to our program, to our fan base, to theirs as well,” Jans said. “I don’t have a feel for exactly the importance for other programs, and I don’t like to talk about those type of matters. But this pause has certainly made it more difficult, because everybody’s got to do their thing, you know? Everybody’s gotta schedule their games and you can’t sit back and wait and hold dates going, ‘Well, if they get off pause, we can play it here.’ You can’t work like that. And then conference play, obviously, is beginning, so it’s more difficult.”
As for Aggies-Lobos, both athletic directors – NMSU’s Mario Moccia and UNM’s Eddie Nuñez – had essentially the same message. Continuing the in-state rivalry in some fashion, even if not in the usual home-and-home manner (neither can play on its campus at the moment, anyway), is important. But the Lobos start Mountain West Conference play on Monday, making finding time for a non-conference rivalry game at an unknown location a tall order.
“The windows get smaller … the deeper we get into the season,” Jans said.
www.abqjournal.com/1528364/aggies-games-vs-rival-lobos-utep-in-peril.html