A string of bad luck has plagued the UNM football team this year - from injuries piling up to tough, heart-wrenching losses.
But maybe a late-season voyage to Las Vegas - the bad-luck capital of the world - might include a change in the cards for UNM.
For sure, the Lobos don't want to be left pondering the ifs, something they were forced to consider last week in a loss to No. 10 Utah.
If only the Lobos completed two more passes.
Wide receiver Chris Hernandez said frustration mounts, especially when the Lobos can't seem to convert through the air at critical junctures.
"It does," he said. "Without setting (defenses) up early with different routes or testing them early deep, they just sit back and wait for you. I wish we'd air it out more."
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Last week against the Utes, UNM couldn't convert two pass attempts on third-and-three and fourth-and-three at Utah's 48-yard line with 2:57 left in the game.
Here's another big if: As quirky as it might sound, if the Lobos had beaten the No. 10 Utes, they likely wouldn't be making a postseason appearance. The fact they lost increased the likelihood UNM will receive a bowl bid should they win out.
"It did (help us)," Hernandez admitted. "I mean, I hate to look at it like that, but it did. Obviously, Utah and TCU have a chance to go to a BCS bowl. That'll open up two spots in our conference. That's helped us. But more than anything, we have to help ourselves and win these last two games."
Standing at 4-6 overall and sixth in the Mountain West Conference at 2-4, the Lobos were faced with a precarious predicament against the Utes: win, run the table, end the season at 7-5 and cozily snuggle up with remotes in hand and watch bowl games. Or, they could lose to Utah, win out, end the season at 6-6 and wind up in either the Armed Forces Bowl or the New Mexico Bowl.
Had the Lobos won, Utah would have been knocked out of contention for a BCS bowl game. And with five others ahead of UNM in the conference, do the math. Four bowl games with ties to the MWC and five teams - four already bowl-eligible in Utah, TCU, Air Force and BYU - means the Lobos would have been left out of the equation.
But head coach Rocky Long he disagrees.
"No, I don't think so," Long said, snickering at the suggestion that the Utah loss benefited the Lobos' shot at the postseason. "There's enough bowls now that almost every 6-6 team is going to get a bowl bid. Now, we have four guaranteed in our league. And if somebody gets into the BCS, it makes room for a fifth, but everybody in our league believes there's going to be a fifth spot."
Instead, the Lobos will battle with Colorado State to determine who receives the final MWC bowl bid to either the Armed Forces Bowl or the New Mexico Bowl, with the MWC runner-up getting an invite to the Las Vegas Bowl and the third-place finisher heading to the Poinsettia Bowl.
A rule amendment makes it possible for UNM to compete in this year's New Mexico Bowl.
Long said those who believe the New Mexico Bowl's inception was a case of homerism - UNM competed in the 2006 inaugural bowl, as well as last year's - might not understand the goal of college football.
"I think that they just don't understand how the college football scene is today," he said. "Until they have a playoff system, the whole gist of college football is getting to a bowl game, because there are only two teams that honestly get a chance to win the national championship."
Long, a proponent of a playoff system, said he doesn't like the subjectivity of rankings.
"It's based on polls and computers. It's not based on head-to-head competition," he said. "So, until they go to a playoff system, the 117 other teams, the whole deal is to get to a bowl game. Any bowl games that are out there are good for college football."
And what's good for college football is good for the Lobos.
What might be good for Hernandez, however, is a touchdown pass - he has yet to snare one this season.
Still, Hernandez said he and the Lobos would rather send the seniors off right - by earning a bowl berth.
"I don't have too big of an ego," Hernandez said with a smirk on his face. "A touchdown would be nice, though."
But if the Lobos get caught in a closely contested battle against UNLV, Hernandez said he'll look to be the go-to target.
"Open or not, I'll go make the play for (Brad Gruner)," he said.
