by Phil Parker
Daily Lobo
The 5-4 Lobos can lose another game this year without being mathematically eliminated from bowl contention.
But head coach Rocky Long said, "I'm living in the real world."
Long said Friday night's opponent, Colorado State (5-4, 2-2) can finish the season 7-5 and still be invited to a bowl game - but Long said that is not the case for UNM.
The three bowl games that will invite a Mountain West Conference team are the Las Vegas Bowl, the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl and the AXA Liberty Bowl. The Lobos need to win two of their last three games to be bowl eligible. But Long said realistically they need to sweep CSU, Air Force and Wyoming.
"Colorado State can go 7-5 and they'll probably be picked for a bowl game," Long said. "We can lose this week's game and go 7-5 and we'll be bowl eligible, but nobody's going to take us, because we're New Mexico."
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This weekend Colorado State will play its fourth game to be broadcast on national television this season. The Rams have a more renowned, more recognized program and, therefore, more appeal to bowl selection committees.
But a 5-2 record in the conference would make UNM impossible to ignore, just like it was last year when it went on to play UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Before last week's game, the Lobos were in the driver's seat in the MWC after beating conference-leader Utah, and would have been champs had they managed to continue their winning ways.
One befuddling, turnover-packed loss later, the Lobos are back in the pack with three other two-loss teams in the conference in Air Force CSU and Wyoming. Remarkably, those three teams are the only three games remaining on UNM's schedule.
After tonight's tussle with the Rams, the Lobos will play Air Force (6-3, 3-2) at home and then travel to Wyoming (4-5, 2-2) on Nov. 22 for their last conference battle.
If the Lobos can take down all three teams, they will sit in second place by themselves. If they lose even one game, though, the Lobos will be in a spot similar to last year's San Diego State team, which tied Air Force's 4-3 record, but lost out while the Falcons took on Virginia Tech in San Francisco.
"There's still a lot at stake," UNM quarterback Casey Kelly said. "We feel like we have to win out."
The road ahead of Long's team is a perilous one. UNM's only conference losses last year were to CSU and Air Force. The Lobos have lost their last five meetings with Colorado State.
Long understands the importance of Friday night's game, but has stuck by his season's motto that "no one game is more important than any other."
However, Long said Friday's game is probably a bowl elimination game.
"But either way, that doesn't mean we're not going to play our fannies off against Air Force," he said. "We're going to play our fannies off against Air Force and Wyoming and it doesn't make a darn bit of difference. A competitor is a competitor."
