The season begins with an exhibition game versus Western New Mexico, Nov. 2, with the regular season starting, Nov. 12, against I-10 rival UTEP in El Paso, Texas.
The Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic is set for Nov. 29-30 at the Pan American Center. The two-day tournament brings in Northern Illinois, Milwaukee and Lamar. The weekend marks the seventh year for the Thanksgiving tournament.
“I am excited for our schedule this year,” Trakh said. “We are playing several games in areas that we heavily recruit in, and I think it is important for us to keep an active footprint in those areas.”
NM State concludes the I-10 rivalry series, Dec. 3, in Las Cruces before spending the rest of 2013 on the road with its only meeting with Rio Grande Rival New Mexico, Saturday, Dec. 7, in Albuquerque. The team then travels to California to face UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton before participating in a holiday tournament hosted by UTSA on Dec. 28-29.
“Our conference is so unknown this year with six teams being new to the league. Seattle and Idaho are both bringing back the majority of their players and they were the regular season and tournament champions, so they will be competitive,” Trakh said. “We just know so little about the rest, that hopefully both our non-conference and WAC schedules will bring good competition.”
The 2014 year begins with the Aggies taking on Grand Canyon, Jan. 4. NM State settles into conference play with a road weekend to meet defending regular-season WAC Champion Seattle U, Jan. 9, followed by WAC Tournament Champion Idaho just two days later.
Back home for three-game straight games, NM State meets Chicago State for the first time in program history, Jan. 16 and rounds out the home stand with Kansas City, Jan. 18, and Texas Pan American, Jan. 25.
After meeting Utah Valley, Feb. 1, the Aggies rotate through each of the conference opponents one more time at the opposite venue before ending the home schedule with ‘Senior Night’ against CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, March 1.
The Aggies conclude the regular season with a trip to GCU in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 6. NM State then heads to the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev., at the Orleans Arena. The 2014 edition of the conference tournament marks the fourth season that the league has held the tournament at the neutral site in Las Vegas.