Men’s Basketball vs. Boise State: What’s at Stake

by Zach

The Lobos (12-12, 7-4) have a huge game Tuesday night against second-place Boise State (19-4, 9-2) at The PIT. The Lobos have positioned themselves well through 11 games of conference play, as they sit all alone in third place. During their first meeting in Boise, the Broncos jumped out to a huge lead in the first half, giving the Lobos only a small chance of winning the game. The interesting thing about the first game was that the Broncos didn’t hit a ton of three’s to claim their huge lead, instead relying almost fully on layups. It would not be a surprise to see them try to replicate that success tonight.

In my opinion, it is easy to see that Nevada and Boise State are the top two teams in the conference.That said, the group from 3-8 could end up in a lot of different ways. Because of that, there is a lot at stake for the Lobos tonight, with effects that could continue over the next few weeks.

Read more

A Discussion About College Football

by Jono

The FBS Season wrapped up on Monday with Alabama beating Georgia, earning the Crimson Tide yet another National Championship. That is, unless you ask the folks out in Orlando, who believe the National Championship was decided the week before, when UCF finished their perfect season. That started us emailing back and forth about some of the flaws that we see in the sport, particularly in regard to how the playing field is tilted such that so-called Group of 5 schools, like UNM, have a nearly impossible path to even compete for the National Championship. Here is our discussion on the matter:

Read more

MW Women’s Basketball Conference Preview

by Zach

The non-conference schedule is finished for the Lobos (12-1) and the second season, Mountain West play, begins on Tonight. The Lobos have started the season on fire with good wins over Marquette, Western Michigan, UTEP, NMSU (rivalry games x2), Lamar, Illinois and Navy. The only loss on the Lobos schedule was against a very good Oklahoma team when they were without Jaisa Nunn. After being picked 4th in the preseason poll, the Lobos have inserted themselves as the clear favorite to win the MW this season. Looking back at the preseason awards, the Lobos had the Preseason Player of the Year (Cherise Beynon), Newcomer of the Year (Tesha Buck), and Rookie of the Year (N’Dea Flye). All three players have a good shot of winning those awards, with Beynon’s most likely challengers being teammates in Nunn and Buck. You could make a case the Lobos have the 3 best players in the MW this season.

Read more

Men’s Basketball Check-in (11/28/17)

by Jono

We’re now a couple weeks into the Men’s Basketball season and I think it’s fair to say that we’ve now learned a few things about this version of the Lobos. For one, anyone who was predicting a perfect season is already disappointed. But that was inevitable. However, this is a team that plays hard, doesn’t give up, and, in my opinion, will continue to get better as the season goes on. I’m still having fun, at least.

Read more

A New Era for Lobo Basketball

by Jono

A new era of UNM Men’s Basketball starts tonight. After one of the crazier offseasons that I can remember, featuring a coaching change, 10 players announcing their intention to transfer, two of those players coming back, and an Athletic Director retiring under pressure, the Lobos are hoping to wipe the slate clean and redefine what the program is all about. If early returns are any indication, then mission accomplished. This team is practically unrecognizable from last year’s version and in my view, that’s a wonderful thing.

Rather than one of my standard previews, like I’ve done the last couple of years where I looked at each player’s stats to show how they played and what we might expect out of them, this year I figured that I’d just look at some larger themes to keep an eye on throughout the year. After all, based on the 147 points they dropped on Northern New Mexico on Saturday, last year’s stats don’t mean much this year.

Read more

Lobo Football at Texas A&M Preview

by Jono

After another underwhelming performance, losing 24-10 to Utah State, Lobo Football has now lost four in a row and has their bowl chances hanging by a thread. Unfortunately, next on the docket is Texas A&M, where the Lobos will face a hostile crowd on the Aggies’ senior night. It’s certainly not impossible, but the Lobos will need a great performance to keep their postseason hopes alive.

Read more

Women’s Soccer: MW Championship Preview

by Zach

The Lobos (12-7-2) are in the Mountain West Championship Match tonight, after forcing two draws and ultimately advancing in the shoot-outs against FSU and SJSU. They will take on SDSU (11-7-2), who won their first match of the tournament in the Semifinals with a 1-0 win over BSU. So far during the tournament, the Lobos have had ups and downs, but in the end it is all smiles, having tied and advanced to the championship. For both teams, this match will be a win and advance to the NCAA Tournament, or lose and go home.

Read more

Lobo Football vs Utah State

by Jono

Last week’s game was…. not great. The Lobos went to Wyoming and looked completely out of sorts, allowing 42 first-half points on the way to a 42-3 drubbing. On the bright side, they won the second half 3-0. On whatever the opposite of the bright side is, everything else. That leaves the Lobos with a 3-5 record, needing to win three of their remaining four games to assure themselves a third-straight bowl game. If that happens, one of those games almost certainly has to be this one against Utah State. With their backs against the wall, I like to think that the Lobos will be ready for the challenge.

Read more

Lobo Football at Wyoming Preview

by Jono

The Lobos bounced back last week against a good Colorado State team, but ultimately couldn’t pull off the upset. I didn’t have great expectations for the Lobos going into that game, but given the way the game went, it felt like a missed opportunity. After all, if the holding penalty had been called a safety, if they had scored quickly at the end of the game, if that last pass had been ruled a completion, or any number of small things that happened in the game, they could have walked out with a win. It’s amazing how those small things stick in your mind in a close loss…

Regardless, the season marches forward and the Lobos still have work to do. They’re in Wyoming this weekend, looking to repeat last season’s performance against the Cowboys with a solid drubbing of the boys in brown. A win will get their season back on track, while a loss will make things really difficult. Needless to say, this is an important one.

Read more