The

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as " Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2023 the Aggies have competed in

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

in all men's and women's sports. New Mexico State sponsors six men's and ten women's teams in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

sanctioned sports. The athletic director

Mario Moccia Mario Moccia is the former director of athletics for New Mexico State University. He previously served as athletic director for Southern Illinois University Carbondale from 2006 to 2014, as an associate athletic director at the University of Missou ...

, who had held the position since January 2015, was fired in January 2025 following an investigation into scandals during the 2022-23 NMSU men's basketball season. Amber Burdge, one of NMSU's deputy athletic directors, is his temporary replacement.

Nickname

The "Aggies"

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

derives from the university's agricultural roots and status as a

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

institution. Prior to 2000 the women's intercollegiate athletic teams were known as the Roadrunners, placing NMSU among the handful of NCAA Division I schools which had separate nicknames and mascots for its men's and women's programs. By the late 1990s sentiment began to grow for the university to adopt a single, uniform mascot for all its athletic teams, and during the 1999–2000 academic year the school's female student athletes voted to adopt the "Aggies" moniker. NMSU's women's teams officially became the Aggies at the start of the 2000–2001 academic year.

History

Conference history

The NMSU Aggies have had various conference affiliations, listed below with the year of change: * 1931 –

Border Conference The Border Conference, officially known as the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association, was an NCAA-affiliated college athletic conference founded in 1931 that disbanded following the 1961–62 school year. Centered in the southwestern Unite ...

* 1962 –

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

* 1971 – Missouri Valley * 1983 – Big West (formerly Pacific Coast Athletic Association) * 2001 –

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...

* 2005 – WAC **

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

: Independent (

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

), Sun Belt (

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

–

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

), Independent (

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

–

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

) * 2023 –

NMSU maintains major rivalries with the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

, called the " Rio Grande Rivalry," and with the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

, called " The Battle of I-10." The winner of the NMSU-UTEP football game receives the Silver Spade trophy. Since a major reconfiguration of the WAC in 2013, NMSU has also developed a rivalry with Grand Canyon University in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, as two of the conference's more passionate fan bases and successful programs. The Big West Conference discontinued its sponsorship of football after the 2000 season, and the WAC dropped it following the 2012 season. On November 5, 2021, an offer to join

was accepted with a start date of July 2023.

Sports sponsored

Baseball

New Mexico State's first baseball team was fielded in 1907. The team plays its home games at Presley Askew Field.

Basketball

NMSU Basketball has seen much success throughout the years, highlighted by an

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

appearance in 1970. The Aggies basketball program has seen 19 NCAA tournament appearances, 5 NIT Tournament appearances and 16 conference championships. Under Chris Jans, the Aggies won their first NCAA

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

in 2022, the program's first tournament victory in 25 years. After the season, Jans was hired to coach at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. His replacement, Greg Heiar, was dismissed on February 15, 2023, in the wake of scandals involving a NMSU basketball player fatally shooting a

student and several NMSU basketball players sexually assaulting a teammate; the university also canceled the rest of the team's games for the 2022–2023 season.

Football

The Aggies won the Sun Bowl in 1959 and 1960 under coach Warren B. Woodson and continued to do well until he was let go in 1967. Since then the Aggies have had only 6 winning seasons and 2

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

championships in 1976 and 1978. The 1976 championship was shared with

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. NMSU usually plays two big rivalry games each year against

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and UTEP. UTEP is located just 45 miles to the south on I-10. This rivalry is often referred to as The Battle of I-10. UNM is less than 250 miles to the north on I-25. This rivalry was traditionally called The Battle of I-25 until it officially became the Rio Grande Rivalry in 2007 as part of a points system that includes all varsity sports competitions between the two schools.

Men's golf

The men's golf team has won 17 conference championships: *

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(5): 1973, 1976, 1980–81, 1983 *

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

(3): 1987^, 1995, 2000^ *

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

(1): 2004 *

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(8): 2006, 2008–11, 2013–15 ''^ Co-champions'' Aggies who have won at the professional level include Rich Beem (three

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

wins including 2002 PGA Championship),

Bart Bryant Barton Holan Bryant (November 18, 1962 – May 31, 2022) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Early life Bryant was born in Gatesville, Texas, the son of a Baptist pastor. He attended New M ...

(three PGA Tour wins), Tom Byrum (one PGA Tour win), and Steve Haskins (two Web.com Tour wins).

Softball

The Aggie softball team has appeared in one

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States and is held annually in Oklahoma City, OK. The event is held at Devon Park (stadium), Devon Park loca ...

in 1981.

Volleyball

Since the arrival of head coach Mike Jordan in 1998 the Aggies have established a rich tradition as one of the nation's most consistently competitive mid-major volleyball programs. In Jordan's quarter century at the helm the Aggies have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and won or shared a combined 19 regular season and tournament championships across their time in both the

and Western Athletic Conferences. In 2006 the Aggies became the first opponent in eight years to defeat perennial national power

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in WAC play, snapping its NCAA record 114-match conference winning streak.

Former varsity sports

* Equestrian - At the time of disbandment in 2017, equestrian was recognized by the NCAA as an "emerging sport" for women, but did not yet have an NCAA-sponsored team championship. The equestrian team formerly competed as a member of the United Equestrian Conference and the National Collegiate Equestrian Association, but was considered by the NCAA to be an Independent.

Athletic facilities

* Aggie Memorial Stadium – Football * Pan American Center – Men's and women's basketball, Volleyball * Presley Askew Field – Baseball * New Mexico State University Golf Course – Men's and women's golf, Men's and women's cross country *NM State Soccer Athletic Complex – Women's soccer *NM State Softball Complex – Softball *NM State Swimming and Diving Complex – Women's swimming and diving *NM State Tennis Center – Men's and women's tennis *NMSU Track and Field Complex – Women's outdoor track and field

New Mexico State traditions

Fight song

NMSU's "Aggie Fight Song" is based on a popular turn-of-the-century song titled "Oh Didn't He Ramble." The music and lyrics are similar to songs used by several other universities, most notably

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

("California Drinking Song") and Ohio State ("I Wanna Go Back to Ohio State"). However, only NMSU uses it as the primary school song. The fight song's lyrics have evoked some controversy in recent years due to the reference to drinking, but a vast majority of students and alumni support preserving the traditional lyrics. Additionally, during the time that NMSU's women's teams were known as the Roadrunners, an arrangement of the theme song from the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

" Road Runner" cartoons was used as the unofficial women's fight song. However, since the adoption of the Aggies nickname by the women's teams, this practice has fallen from use and the "Road Runner" song is no longer used.

Logo

For many years, NMSU's athletics

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

was a caricature of gunfighter Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton which is identical to the logo used by Oklahoma State. A block "NM STATE" logo was introduced in 2007 as a universal logo. The current athletics logo was initially designed in 2005 as part of a plan to remake the university's image on the national stage; Pete's pistol was replaced with a lasso, and his name was briefly officially abbreviated to simply "Pete". In addition to the new logo, the costumed mascot seen at games was also given a new look, losing his six shooters and holster belt in favor of a lasso. The disarming of Pete led to a massive uproar among students, alumni and outsiders demanding the return of Pete's guns. The most popular nickname given to the widely unpopular new mascot was "Lasso Larry". After one year the university changed the mascot in favor of a real student dressed in more traditional cowboy attire, carrying a holster belt and six shooters, and wearing nothing on his head but a black cowboy hat. The "Pistol Pete" name was also restored. In 2007, NMSU modified the "Lasso Larry" logo to remove the lasso and once again depict Pistol Pete carrying pistols, and this is now the official athletics logo.

Notable former Aggie athletes and coaches

Football * Davon House, former

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

cornerback * Jonte Green, former

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

cornerback * Taveon Rogers, former

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

wide receiver, currently playing with the LA KISS of the AFL * Jeremy Harris, current

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

cornerback * Kemonte Bateman, former

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

wide receiver, currently playing with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL * Donte Savage, former

linebacker * Carl Nicks, former

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

offensive lineman * Chris Williams, former

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

wide receiver, currently playing with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the CFL * Buck Pierce, former player of and current QB coach with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

of the CFL * Leo Barker former NFL linebacker, played in Super Bowl XXIII with the

; * Courtney Bryan, NFL safety; * Nick Cole, current

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

offensive lineman; * Roy Gerela, former NFL kicker, won three Super Bowls with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

; * Duriel Harris, former NFL receiver; * Charley Johnson, former NFL quarterback, only football player in school history to have his uniform number (33) retired, member of Denver Broncos Ring of Fame; * Kenton Keith, NFL and CFL running back (

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

); * Donald Malloy, former NFL, CFL, and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

strong safety; * Denvis Manns, former

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

running back, third player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 years in four consecutive seasons; * Joe Pisarcik, former NFL and CFL quarterback; * Siddeeq Shabazz, former NFL and CFL safety; * Troy Sienkiewicz, former NFL

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

offensive lineman; * Danny Villanueva, former NFL punter and placekicker, later became a prominent television executive and was instrumental in founding

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

; * Tony Wragge, current

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

guard; * Fredd Young, former NFL linebacker Seattle Seahawks; Men's basketball * Randy Brown, former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

guard, won three NBA Championships with

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

, former assistant coach of

; * Steve Colter, former

guard with Portland, LA, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Sacramento and Cleveland * Jimmy Collins, former ABA and

guard, member of 1970 Final Four team, former head coach at UIC; * Charlie Criss, former ABA and

guard, member of 1970 Final Four team; * Lou Henson, former player and head coach, currently sixth-winningest coach in NCAA history with 779 career wins; * Reggie Jordan, former

guard, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. * Sam Lacey, former

All-Star center, member of 1970 Final Four team; *

Reggie Theus Reginald Wayne Theus (born October 13, 1957) is an American basketball coach and former player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a two-time NBA All-Star. He is currently the men's basketball head co ...

, former head men's basketball coach; former

Head coach of

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

; * John Whisenant, former

guard, former coach of WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, 2005 WNBA Coach of the Year; Former Assistant Coach at the University of New Mexico * "Super John" Williamson, former ABA and

guard, number retired by

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

* Pascal Siakam,

forward, won an

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

with

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

, 2019 NBA Most Improved Player Women's basketball * Anita Maxwell, former WNBA forward for the Cleveland Rockers, only basketball player (male or female) in school history to have her uniform number (40) retired.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle={{CollegePrimaryStyle, New Mexico State Aggies, color=white , list= {{Conference USA navbox {{Western Athletic Conference navbox {{New Mexico Sports