UNM’s first-year Athletic Director Ryan Berryman has often been posed the question — in various ways — if Lobo Athletics can thrive in the new era of college athletics if it’s a basketball school and not a football school.
His answer has often been some form of “Why can’t it be both?”
While attention has rarely been as high for Lobo football as it is now, it appears as though that hasn’t diminished at all the passion for Lobo Nation’s first love: Lobo basketball.
According to data requested by the Journal, as of Thursday morning, Lobo men’s basketball has already surpassed last year’s season ticket total — selling 8,720 so far this season (the regular season starts Nov. 2 and season ticket sales generally end the second week of the season.) That’s an 86% renewal rate to date, with more time remaining for renewals.
Last season, UNM reported sales of 8,627 season tickets.
The 93-ticket increase with still more than three weeks of sales to go is a strong indication that the Lobos will once again lead the Mountain West, even in its new-look form, in average home attendance, which it also did last year when traditional basketball-proud programs like San Diego State and Utah State were still in the league.
In the 2025-27 season, UNM averaged a league-best announced home crowd of 12,133 per game — 28th best in the country out of 365 Division I programs.
As for Lobo football, after having the nation’s largest year-over-year growth in average home attendance last season (over the 2024 season), this year’s attendance (25,419) is already higher per game than the final average attendance in 2025 (25,525) and that was with the benefit of both a New Mexico State rivalry sellout and the growth of attendance late in the season as the team was playing for a Mountain West title — something they are the favorite to win this year and haven’t yet hit their stretch of highly-anticipated home games.
As for basketball, single game tickets for the coming season start on Monday at the Lobo ticket office or GoLobos.com/tickets — where fans can purchase single game or season tickets.
Preseason game ticketing
As good as all that season ticket sales news is for UNM, there is one big change for season ticket holders this year — a change that takes place the next two weekends.
While season tickets in past years have included the lightly-attended preseason exhibition games against Division II teams, this year, with the NCAA’s new allowance of DI vs. DI preseason games, the Lobos launched a new Power Ford Tip-Off series that changes that.
These games — Sunday vs. Washington State and Oct. 25 vs. Arizona State — aren’t part of the season ticket package, though season ticket holders get a heavily-discounted $5 ticket to the games. But they have to claim them through their online account before arriving Sunday at the Pit.
Regular prices tickets for the two home exhibitions are $15. Parking is free.
Did you hear that?
There will be no local radio broadcast of either exhibition game in the Pit over the next 10 days. Both games, rather, will be streamed on the new subscription-based MW+ app, which is available online and on Thursday the league announced it is also now available through Prime TV, though still with the monthly or annual subscription.
With UNM’s regular play-by-play broadcaster Robert Portnoy making the trip back from the islands with the football team after Saturday night’s game, broadcaster Jeff Siembieda will get the pinch hit MW+ duties this Sunday along with regular analyst and Lobo Hall of Famer Hunter Greene.
Green and Portnoy traveled this past weekend to do a radio call of the Lobos 10-point road win in Stillwater over Oklahoma State. The Cowboys chose not to stream that game (stream and broadcast rights are at the discretion of the home team).
UNM has chosen for its home games two online streams, but no radio — a hope to either entice fans to attend in person or subscribe to the MW+, which does give roughly 60% of each subscription to the school the user chooses at sign up (you can’t complete sign up without picking one of the league’s members).
SoCal rebrand, TV news
The Dec. 21 (vs. Oregon State) and Dec. 23 (vs. Boise State) basketball games in San Juan Capistrano, California, that had been branded as the SoCal Challenge have a new name.
It is now the Capistrano Invitational.
Nothing else really changes for the Lobos, one of four teams in the event along with Oregon State, Boise State and Santa Clara.
UNM and Santa Clara already play Nov. 14 in Santa Clara and won’t face off in the Capistrano Invitational.
Santa Clara, meanwhile, was announced on Thursday as the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference, getting eight of nine coaches votes. Second place Saint Mary’s, who visits the Pit on Dec. 12, received the other first place vote.
One more Capistrano Invitational note: the USA television network this week announced it will broadcast the Dec. 23 Boise State/UNM game.
Geoff Grammer is the Sports Editor of the Journal, a podcaster, columnist and covers UNM Lobos basketball, among other things. Reach him at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.