COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Mountain West announced the 2026 schedule matrix, assigning home and road opponents for all nine teams in the Mountain West. The Lobos will host Air Force, NIU, UNLV, and UTEP. The Lobos will play road games at Hawai’i, Nevada, San José State, and Wyoming.
The new matrix was necessary due to the additions of NIU and UTEP to the league and the departures of five programs.
UNM will host UNLV in a game featuring two of the four teams that tied for first place in the Mountain West. UNLV played in the championship game, losing to Boise State for a third straight year, as UNM missed out on the computer-based tiebreaker.
The Lobos defeated the Rebels in Las Vegas, 40-35, in a game that clinched bowl eligibility for UNM. The Lobos also beat Air Force in Colorado 20-3, ending a 25-year losing skid at the Academy.
UNM will host UTEP for a second straight time, following their 2022 meeting, which UNM won 27-10. The 2026 meeting will be the first time New Mexico and UTEP have played a conference game since 1998, when UTEP defeated New Mexico 22-19 in Albuquerque. UNM and UTEP were both members of the Western Athletic Conference from 1968 to 1998, and both were members of the Border Conference from 1935 to 1950.
New Mexico will host NIU for the first meeting ever between the two programs.
For UNM’s four road contests, UNM will travel to San José for a second straight season to take on the Spartans. The Lobos will be looking to avenge last year’s 35-28 loss to the Spartans. New Mexico has lost eight straight road games to San José State, last winning in 1969.
The Lobos will also visit Hawai’i for a second straight time, with the Lobos losing 38-31 in Honolulu in the final game of the 2024 season.
UNM defeated Nevada 22-20 in 2025 at University Stadium, and UNM will be looking for its first win in Reno in what will be its sixth attempt. UNM is 0-4-1 in Reno. UNM and Wyoming did not meet in 2025, and UNM’s last win in Laramie was in 2021, a 14-3 victory.
The Lobos still have a game left in 2025, as UNM takes on Minnesota in the 2025 Rate Bowl at Chase Field in Phoenix on Friday, December 26, at 2:30 pm. Fans can purchase tickets through the Lobo allotment at golobos.com/BowlTickets.
