The New Mexico State Aggies and the Wyoming Cowboys have scheduled a home-and-home football series for 2018 and 2024, both schools announced on Monday.
In the first game of the series, New Mexico State will host Wyoming at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces on Aug. 25, 2018. The Aggies will then travel to face the Cowboys at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie on Sept. 21, 2024.
The 2018 game will be played the weekend before Labor Day weekend, dubbed “week zero” by most people. This is allowed under a new NCAA exception for teams that play at Hawaii, which Wyoming does in 2018.
In their first and only meeting back in 1953, Wyoming defeated New Mexico State 47-0 in Laramie.
“Deputy AD Braun Cartwright and I have put in an enormous amount of time on football scheduling with the focus on securing games with regional Group of 5 opponents,” NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said. “Unlike in 2013 when we played four Power 5 conference programs, which had ripple effects on future year’s schedules, we have really focused on the home-and-home model.”
New Mexico State will be playing their final season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2017. The Aggies will then compete in 2018 and beyond as an FBS Independent.
The only other game the Aggies have currently announced for 2018 is a previously scheduled trip to Minnesota on Aug. 30. As an independent, New Mexico State will have to schedule 10 more games to get to a total of 12.
“We are diligently working to finalize our schedule, which as an independent is one of the more difficult tasks I have found in intercollegiate athletics,” Moccia said.
Wyoming has now tentatively completed their 2018 non-conference schedule. Other games for the Cowboys include vs. Washington State (Sept. 1), at Missouri (Sept. 8), and vs. Wofford (Sept. 15).
Football Schedules