Around the country, there are few college basketball venues better than The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over the past year, Fernando Lovo has seen that up close as the athletic director at New Mexico. In transitioning to his new job as the athletic director at Colorado, Lovo knows the importance of a strong game day experience for fans of all sports and hopes to bring that to Boulder. The Colorado Buffaloes bench celebrates a three point basket against the UC Davis Aggies at CU Events Center in Boulder on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer) “It’s huge. That’s really important to me,” Lovo, who begins his job at CU this week, told BuffZone. “I’m fanatical about the game day experience. It’s something that I took from my time at the University of Texas. I saw how impactful it was to create. It’s not just a game. It’s got to be an event. It’s got to be engaging. It’s got to be dynamic.” Last year, New Mexico ranked 24th nationally in men’s basketball attendance, averaging 13,051 fans per game. The Lobos’ women’s basketball team ranked 26th nationally, at 4,843 per game. And in football this year, the Lobos had the largest jump in average attendance in the FBS, with 57.8% more fans at home games in 2025 than in 2024. By comparison, CU was 69th nationally in men’s basketball attendance last year (7,038) and is averaging just 5,802 fans at home this year (not counting the game against Portland…
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