LAS CRUCES — New Mexico State’s move from the WAC to Conference USA in 2023 may be football driven, according to athletic director Mario Moccia, but it has significant men’s basketball implications as well.
The new C-USA, which will include NMSU, UT-El Paso, Liberty, Sam Houston State, Jacksonville State, Florida International and Louisiana Tech, places the Aggies in the same conference as I-10 rival UTEP for the first time since the two schools were in the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, also known as the Border Conference, in 1962.
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The conference also currently includes Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, although both schools are rumored to be in discussion with the Mid-American Conference as conference realignment continues to engulf college athletics.
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C-USA is an upgrade from WAC basketball
C-USA is a significant upgrade from the WAC as a basketball conference, both in terms of program sizes and funding and in overall quality of conference opponents. Kenpom, which ranks all 358 men’s college basketball teams by adjusted efficiency margin, ranks the average C-USA team 163, assuming the conference does not gain or lose another school before 2023. The current 13-member WAC’s average Kenpom ranking is 217.
The potential nine-team C-USA, including Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky, will likely be led by Louisiana Tech, Liberty, WKU and New Mexico State from a basketball standpoint. NMSU’s $3.3 million men’s basketball budget ranks third behind Liberty’s $3.5 million budget and UTEP.
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All four schools have enjoyed at least four consecutive winning seasons, and WKU, Louisiana Tech and Liberty have won at least 20 games in each of their last three campaigns. New Mexico State only played 20 games total last year due to COVID-19.
The Aggies, ranked 109 by Kenpom, are ranked the lowest of the four schools but have enjoyed the most NCAA Tournament success in recent years. NMSU has qualified for three of the last four Tournaments by winning the WAC Tournament and receiving an automatic bid to the Big Dance, while Liberty is the only of the other three schools to qualify for March Madness since 2013. However, Western Kentucky has made the last three C-USA conference tournament championship games.
Marshall, Old Dominion and North Texas, which have won C-USA’s last three bids to the Big Dance, are all departing for either the Sun Belt Conference or the American Conference.
NMSU has traditionally dominated the WAC since it entered the conference in 2005, winning the conference tournament nine times under four head coaches and becoming a March Madness regular.
Chris Jans, Aggies haven’t discussed 2023 move to C-USA
The Aggies are aware of the news they will join C-USA in 2023, but the team has not discussed it, according to head coach Chris Jans. The team has instead focused on “the task at hand,” including Tuesday night’s season opener against UC Irvine in Las Cruces at 7 p.m.
“We had some conversations about it as a staff like you would expect us to off the cuff, but I’m not spending a lot of time thinking about it,” Jans said. “Unfortunately, we’ve got more things to worry about, being (UC-Irvine) and then Saturday with UTEP, and then going to Myrtle Beach and playing in that tournament. It’s so far off to even really think about what that’s going to look like.”
Rivalries
Moccia said in a Friday press conference that maintaining NMSU’s rivalry with Grand Canyon once the Aggies leave the WAC isn’t totally out of the question. NMSU leads the all-time series with GCU 14-5, although the Lopes have won the last three matchups, including their meeting in last year’s WAC Tournament championship game.
NMSU’s yearly conference meetings with GCU quickly blossomed into a major conference rivalry with iconic moments, including senior Aggie Johnny McCants’ half-court buzzer beater in January 2019. The Lopes have routinely sold out GCU arena when NMSU has come to town, and this season won’t be any different. GCU arena has already sold out for the 2021-22 men’s basketball season.
“It’s Phoenix, AZ. It’s a very easy drive to get over there,” Moccia said. “They usually have great (rating percentage index’s) in all of their sports, so I would certainly encourage all of our coaches, and I’m sure they would want to keep a good regional, great RPI, great rivalry series, no matter what it is.”
The move to C-USA also guarantees NMSU will play UTEP at least twice per year as a conference foe. The two schools have played regularly since the series began in 1914-15, and NMSU leads the all-time series 115-104. But the schools have not met as conference opponents since 1962, the last year of the Border Conference with Arizona State, West Texas A&M and Hardin-Simmons.
The Aggies have won nine of the last 10 meetings but did not play UTEP last year due to COVID-19. NMSU won the last meeting in 2019, 59-56, in Las Cruces. The schools will meet in Las Cruces Saturday, Nov. 13 and in El Paso Friday, Dec. 3. Both tip-offs will be at 7 p.m.
Stephen Wagner is a sports reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can found on Twitter at @stephenwag22 and reached at SWagner@lcsun-news.com.
