New Mexico State announces complete 2025 football schedule
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - Thursday morning, Conference USA announced its football schedule for the upcoming season, including NM State’s eight-game slate of league games for its third season as a member of the conference.
In total, the Aggies will play a traditional 12-game schedule with six games being played at Aggie Memorial Stadium and six games coming on the road.
This will mark the first year of membership for CUSA newcomer and 2025 Aggie opponent Missouri State.
Additionally, the Aggies will also see Kennesaw State for the first time since the Owls joined the conference.
As part of its membership in CUSA, NM State will also participate in “Weekday CUSA” for the third straight season which will place its three October contests in an evening time slot during the midweek.
In their second year under the leadership of Head Coach Tony Sanchez, the Aggies will open the season with a pair of home games as they will welcome Bryant on Aug. 30 before hosting Tulsa on Sept. 6.
Following the battle with the Golden Hurricane, NM State will make a trip to Ruston, La., for its first CUSA game of the season as they take on LA Tech on Sept. 13.
The Aggies will then get a 13-day break before heading north for a matchup against in-state rival New Mexico on Sept. 27.
NM State is then scheduled to return home to host Sam Houston on Thursday, Oct. 2, which will mark the first midweek game of the season for the Aggies.
Following its second bye of the season, the Aggies will make its longest road trip of the season to Lynchburg, Va., where they will collide with Liberty on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
The Aggies’ stretch of midweek games will then wrap up with a home game against Missouri State on Oct. 22.
NM State’s next test will come on the road at Western Kentucky as they kickoff a November in which it will play five games.
After facing the Hilltoppers, the Aggies will travel to measure up against SEC foe Tennessee (Nov. 15) before visiting El Paso, Texas, for a game against UTEP (Nov. 22) that will be the Aggies’ final road bout of the season.
NM State will then cap off the regular season with a home game against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29.
Lastly, the 21st annual Conference USA Championship Game is scheduled to take place on Friday, December 5, on CBS Sports Network during championship week.
Full 2025 Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Location |
| Saturday, Aug. 30 | Bryant | Las Cruces, N.M. |
| Saturday, Sept. 6 | Tulsa | Las Cruces, N.M. |
| Saturday, Sept. 13 | at LA Tech* | Ruston, La. |
| Saturday, Sept. 27 | at New Mexico | Albuquerque, N.M. |
| Thursday, Oct. 2 | Sam Houston* | Las Cruces, N.M. |
| Tuesday, Oct. 14 | at Liberty* | Lynchburg, Va. |
| Wednesday, Oct. 22 | Missouri State* | Las Cruces, N.M. |
| Saturday, Nov. 1 | at WKU* | Bowling Green, Ky. |
| Saturday, Nov. 8 | Kennesaw State* | Las Cruces, N.M. |
| Saturday, Nov. 15 | at Tennessee | Knoxville, Tenn. |
| Saturday, Nov. 22 | at UTEP* | El Paso, Texas |
| Saturday, Nov. 29 | MTSU* | Las Cruces, N.M. |
* Indicates CUSA game
All dates subject to change
Schedule Notes
NM State will close out the 2025 regular season with a matchup against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29. The last time that the Blue Raiders visited Las Cruces was in 2023 when the Aggies claimed a narrow 13-7 victory to officially earn bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season. This would mark the first time that NM State earned back-to-back bowl bids since the 1959 and 1960 seasons.
The Aggies’ matchup on Aug. 30 versus Bryant will mark the first-ever meeting between the two programs. This will also represent the second straight year that the Aggies will open the year against an FCS opponent.
The 2025 season will mark the first time since 2001 that the Aggie schedule will feature Tulsa – an opponent it first met in 1946 and spent ten seasons (1973-82) as conference opponents as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
A contest against CUSA counterpart LA Tech on Sept. 13 will represent the Aggies’ first road game of the season. NM State last visited Ruston in 2023 when it collected the program’s first-ever road win over the Bulldogs. The 27-24 come-from-behind victory extended the Aggies’ win streak to four games – a feat it had not accomplished in over 20 years.
The 115th installment of the Rio Grande Rivalry will take place this season as NM State makes its 61st trip to Albuquerque for a battle with the Lobos who will be under new leadership.
In the last eight years of the Rio Grande Rivalry, the Aggies and Lobos have each claimed four victories. During that stretch, the two sides are separated by just 14 points with the Aggies scoring 255 points and the Lobos scoring 266 points.
NM State will open its stretch of midweek games on Thursday, Oct. 2, when Sam Houston visits Aggie Memorial Stadium. This will mark just the third meeting between the two sides with each team picking up one win thus far.
Since joining CUSA, the Aggies are 5-2 in midweek games, including a perfect 4-0 record in 2023.
NM State’s Oct. 14 meeting with Liberty will mark its sixth trip to Lynchburg since 2018. This will also be the first time the Aggies return to Williams Stadium since appearing in the 2023 CUSA Championship Game.
The Aggies’ final home midweek game of 2025 will come against league newcomer Missouri State who spent the last 35 years as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. This will also mark the first time in its history that Missouri State will be a member of the FBS.
NM State will also make its return to Bowling Green, Ky., where they have only played one game in program history. The Aggies first-ever meeting with the Hilltoppers came on the road and resulted in a 38-29 win.
The Aggies’ penultimate home game will feature a matchup with Kennesaw State which NM State has never faced in its history. Last season marked the Owls’ first year in CUSA as they finished the year 2-10 overall and 2-6 in league play. Despite only winning two games, KSU did hand 2023 CUSA champion Liberty its first loss of the season.
NM State’s lone matchup against a Power Four opponent comes in Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 15 as the Aggies take on Tennessee of the SEC. The Volunteers will become the third opponent that the Aggies will play for the first time in program history next season. Two seasons ago, the Aggies earned their first-ever win over an SEC opponent as they knocked off Auburn 31-10 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Aggies’ final road game of the year will come at UTEP as they will face the Miners for the 102nd time. This will also mark the last time that NM State and UTEP will face off as conference foes as the Miners will make a move to the Mountain West ahead of the 2026 season. While the Aggies are just 39-60-2 all-time in this series, NM State has emerged victorious in four of the last seven matchups, including a three-game win streak from 2017-19, marking the Aggies’ longest win streak over the Miners in nearly 20 years.
