tromeros@unm.edu
UNM Athletics has enjoyed a historic year thanks to the loss of some key competition.
The men’s basketball and baseball teams took home both the Mountain West regular season and tournament titles. Men’s cross country also won the MWC championship and the men’s soccer team took the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season and tournament titles. This is the first time since the formation of the MWC 13 years ago that UNM won conference titles in basketball, baseball and cross country all in the same year.
The women’s soccer and cross country teams both won conference titles as well.
This level of success is unparalleled for UNM and may be due in part to the conference shake-up that has been going on for the past few years.
The MWC hasn’t been immune to casualties, such as BYU’s departure for the West Coast Conference, except in football where the Cougars are independent, while Utah bolted to the PAC-12 in all sports last season.
I’m not saying the Lobos won six conference championships this year because BYU and Utah left, but it didn’t hurt UNM that both schools departed to different conferences.
The MWC added Boise State last year, but the Broncos only excel at football. Even though the team missed out on the conference title last year, it still had a 12-1 record.
Utah was a competitive school in the MWC, but BYU was a dominant force and its departure created an opening for other schools to capture conference titles. Last year, BYU sports earned a combined 10 regular season and tournament championships in the MWC.
Until last year, BYU was the bully of the MWC, but with it now causing havoc in the WCC, the Lobos have the chance to become what the Cougars were for 13 years in the MWC: dominant.
It may be too early to predict whether the Lobos can take over the conference with the addition of new schools such as Fresno State and Nevada this year.
However, despite those additions, the MWC will lose a few schools such as SDSU, TCU and Boise State.
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At the start of next season, former MWC rival TCU will now be a part of the Big 12 in all sports. TCU originally agreed to join the Big East at the start of next year, but instead it will pay the Big East $5 million to move to the Big 12 Conference.
In 2013, SDSU will join the Big West Conference in all sports except football, for which the Aztecs will travel cross-country to play in the Big East.
Boise State agreed to play in the Big East in football and rejoin the Western Athletic Conference in all other sports. However, the Broncos are having second thoughts because important schools like Florida State and Clemson might be on the move to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
With all of the shifts, the Lobos might be able to capitalize on weaker competition in all other sports, with the exception of football.
Although UNM does not have a reputation as an athletic powerhouse, it might be able to be a big fish in a small pond in future seasons.
