UNM-NMSU rivalry suffers from too much hype, lack of substance

It's no longer the country boys versus the city boys.

Beyond all the burnt offerings, the smoking Aggie and Lobo effigies, and the swank claims of superiority from each student body, the rivalry between UNM and NMSU isn't as contentious as we are led to believe.

The rivalry isn't dead, but it's heavily diluted. You think you're getting 100 percent alcohol, but you're only getting six percent.

It doesn't matter that Sporting News named the UNM-NMSU basketball rivalry one of the top 50 among all sports, pro and college. They had to pick one per state, which speaks to the watered-down standards we have when it comes to selecting rivalries. New Mexico should've been skipped over.

"I think the basketball rivalry is hyped up because the football rivalry isn't really a rivalry," said Anthony Reyes, former sports editor of The Round Up, NMSU's student newspaper. "We can't find a way to beat you guys."

The same reasons UNM-NMSU was once a historic rivalry are the same reasons it isn't on par with other rivalries. Even Duke-North Carolina has lost its appeal. In examining rivalries, there are a few unwritten rules that have to be followed.

For one, it's give and take.

Every time Duke and North Carolina do-si-do, it's become easier to predict who will win. It's the same way when the Lobos and Aggies hit the hardwood.

In the last 11 games between the two teams, UNM has won eight. This isn't a rivalry - it's a feud. UNC has taken five of the last six from Duke.

Recruiting killed a once brooding hatred between the schools. Last year, the Lobos had five in-state players on their roster. The Aggies had two.

"I feel like the New Mexico State program is in a transitional period in the last couple years with coaches, but they're going to improve," former UNM basketball player Daniel Faris said. "Both programs are going to keep getting better and getting more recognition nationally. That's going to bring more rivalry to the rivalry."

Is it possible, given the nature of recruiting?

There's a reason UNM president David Schmidly refers to the University as New Mexico's "flagship university." And it has nothing to do with attendance numbers. Largely, the "flagship" title comes down to choice. UNM lures talented players from their southern-rooted homes.

"Basketball isn't a strong high-school sport in (Las Cruces). Where there is going to be strong players is in Albuquerque," Reyes said. "That's why you guys will get a guy like Danny Granger where we won't get that type of player. Basketball around the border is a lot weaker."

And players don't have allegiances anymore.

They just want to go to successful programs where they can make a name for themselves. NMSU coaches have to circumvent losing in-state players by substituting them with out-of-state recruits. There's a problem with that.

The players they bring to play in the rivalry don't have an ingrained-at-birth sense of what the rivalry is, Reyes said.

Reyes used NMSU's two most talented players, Jonathan Gibson and Jahmar Young, as examples.

"They know as much as they possibly can (about the rivalry)," he said. "But seeing as they're not raised in the rivalry - I honestly don't know if they knew New Mexico was on the map before they got here - I don't think it means as much to them as it does to the citizens that have grown up with the rivalry."

Faris conceded that in-state players better understand the importance of the rivalry.

"In-state players definitely help, because growing up in-state, you get to experience the rivalry firsthand," he said. "When you do actually get to play in it, you realize how much is actually on the line."

But it's hard to have patented success if you only sign in-state players. You have to diversify, incorporate different styles of play into your program. So in a sense, it's inevitable that the quality of the rivalry will suffer. And because New Mexico withdrew from the WAC in 1999, the games aren't as meaningful as they once were.

"Conference games have a whole other level of intensity in themselves," Faris said. "If (we) were in the same conference still, it'd make a huge difference because not only would the games count toward your record, they'd count toward the (regular-season) championship."

Reyes said that move was all about money.

"I think it's foolish that NMSU, UNM and UTEP are in different conferences," he said.

Which brings us to the Rio Grande Rivalry, the branded name now devoted to the UNM-NMSU rivalry. It's sponsored by Route 66 Hotel and Casino.

Reyes said it's a marketing ploy that cheapens the gamesmanship.

"I don't buy this whole Rio Grande Rivalry," he said. "I think it's just a marketing thing to make money. It's a marketing scam to try to get us to (dislike) the Lobos more or care more about interstate competition when we should already care."

Kurt Esser, associate director of athletics marketing, said commercializing the rivalry is necessary if the schools don't want to lose prospective dollars.

"Sponsorship helps our bottom line," he said. "It helps us keep our cost of tickets relatively inexpensive."

Perhaps, though, it's better to have expensive tickets than a cheap rivalry. If UNM-NMSU wants to salvage the sacredness of its rivalry, the two teams need to be in the same conference. Otherwise, the rivalry has seen better days.

"I'm not sure if it ever will happen again, but it wouldn't be a bad thing," Faris said.