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Hot off their Saturday win, the Lobos are lacing up for another dance.
As of Sunday, the Mountain West conference tournament champions are third seed in the West region of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. The Lobos will play No. 14 seed Harvard in the NCAA second round on Thursday at Salt Lake City.
UNM is one of five Mountain West Conference teams to enter the tournament. Boise State holds a No. 13 seed in the West region with the Lobos while Colorado State is the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. San Diego State is the No. 7 seed in the South region while UNLV is the No. 5 seed in the East region. The Lobos’ in-state rival New Mexico State clinched the No. 13 seed in the Midwest region after winning the Western Athletic conference tournament on Saturday night.
Gonzaga has the No. 1 seed the West region, Ohio State nabbed second and Kansas State rounds out the top four. The Lobos have reached the NCAA tournament three of the past four seasons under head coach Steve Alford, and 14 times in the school’s history.
More than 6,000 fans showed up to The Pit Sunday afternoon to hear the NCAA seeding announcement. Fans of the Lobos cheered on as the team’s seed and opponent was announced. The upcoming showdown with the Crimson will be the first time the teams have played each other.
Season-ticket holder Jared Olguin said he’s optimistic after the announcement, and talked about the team’s next potential opponent, the University of Arizona.
“If we took any team out to get to the Sweet 16, I think with Arizona, to take them out would feel really good,” he said.
UNM alumnus Joshua Rivera said that while he was disappointed the Lobos didn’t grab a No. 2 seed, he was optimistic with the team’s tournament chances.
“The fact that we get to play Arizona potentially in the second matchup is nice, it makes it worth it,” Rivera said. “They were a long rival for us; to get a chance to play them again in the tournament is huge.”
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