State

Albuquerque will be the site of the biggest in-state rivalry’s first round Wednesday. The University of New Mexico Lobos men’s basketball team will take on the New Mexico State University Aggies Wednesday night. Game time is 8 p.m. in The Pit. The Lobos and Aggies will meet for the 207th time since the 1904-05 season. The Lobos lead the all-time series between the in-state rivals 112-94 but have been particularly successful against the Aggies in Albuquerque, where they have a 70-36 advantage. UNM and NMSU both won their season openers. UNM routed New Orleans Friday night at home, 92-40, while NMSU got past Northern Colorado on the road, 89-75.

  PREP FOOTBALL Class 5A First Round Clovis 20, Sandia 14 La Cueva 17, Carlsbad 7 Rio Rancho 56, Alamogordo 34   Class 4A First Round Farmington 34, St. Pius 20 Los Lunas 55, Los Alamos 0 Moriarty 42, Deming 20  

While it appeared in the final weeks of the regular season the Los Alamos Hilltopper football team made a case why it should not be the No. 12 seed in the state Class 4A tournament, the seeding and selection committee didn’t agree. Los Alamos picked up the 12th and final seed for the Class 4A playoffs, which get going this weekend with four games. Los Alamos will face fifth-seeded Los Lunas Friday night on the road. The Hilltoppers were relegated to the bottom of the 4A bracket, the same way the Bernalillo Spartans were a year earlier. While based on early season play, a No. 12 seed wasn’t unjustifiable for the Hilltoppers, the team pulled things together at the end of the season, considerably better than did the Spartans a year ago.

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Two seasons ago, when New Mexico surged into the national spotlight behind coach Steve Alford and a gritty group of overachievers, it took many people by surprise. Now the Lobos are getting some preseason hype and Alford is relishing the opportunity to deliver on those projections when the regular season starts at home Nov. 11 against New Orleans. “There’s obviously some good expectations and when you look at us on paper, that’s kind of what we’ve told our guys,” he said. “Looking on paper, we look pretty good, but you have to go play the games and that’s what’s fun right now, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and get your team right at both ends of the floor.”