Some far-too-early predictions for Lobos' 2025 football season

E veryones got a way-too-early list these days, so with spring practices at the University of New Mexico drawing to a close on Easter weekend, its time to gaze into the crystal ball and see how the Lobos will do next season.

Theres a new coach, about four-dozen new faces and no all-Mountain West quarterback who can go out and win a few games (and lose a few) with his video game abilities.

This will be a loss with a capital L.

Heckuva way to launch the Jason Eck era, right? These arent the Wolverines who won the national title two years ago, but theyre still a top-25 program and they still play in the Big House, a college football cathedral that will draw more people for this game than the Lobos will for the first four or five (or even six) home games of the 2025 season.

Oh, yeah, Go Blue beat Ohio State last year, so theyre used to beating teams in this color scheme.

Michigan 51, New Mexico 13 Ecks home opener comes against a team he knows very well.

The Bengals are the down-state rival to the school he left just a few months ago, a team his Vandals beat by 23 points before making a run in last seasons FCS playoffs.

Given more money, more resources and more pieces to work with, the Lobos new coach should have no trouble getting his first win here.

New Mexico 46, Idaho State 17 The second so-called body bag game of the 2025 slate will net the Lobos a cool $1.2 million (after getting $1.8 million from Michigan) for the joy of playing in the Rose Bowl.

Fun fact: This is UNMs fourth visit to L.A.

Their 1929 trip to play Occidental (a 26-0 loss) marked the first time in history that a college football team traveled by plane to play a game.

The Bruins will never be mistaken for Occidental, to best be prepared for a fight.

UCLA 37, New Mexico 16 What used to be an annual smackdown of the Aggies is anything but these days.

Most meetings are close, and lately, they come with the bonus of watching the stands to make sure the attendees are behaving themselves.

By this point, we should have a decent idea of how good Ecks defense is, and there are few places Lobo fans would love to see some growth than against NMSU before what will be the biggest home crowd of the season.

New Mexico 34, New Mexico State 23 The Lobos and Spartans were part of a five-way tie for fifth in last years Mountain West standings, but it was Sparty who went to a bowl (a five-OT loss to South Florida on Christmas Eve, no less) and then had a measure of success in the transfer portal after losing a bunch of all-MWC caliber players.

Big things are expected out of the Bay Area this season.

San Jose State 45, New Mexico 20 Gulp.

Ecks Idaho homecoming is a doozy.

The Lobos avoided Boise State on last years schedule, and that was a good thing.

The Broncos dont have Heisman finalist Ashton Jeanty to run roughshod over defenses anymore, but they return more than enough firepower to be a Mountain West force once again.

The Broncos smurf turf has never been kind to the cherry and silver save for the memorable 2015 upset, that is.

History is not likely to repeat itself, not this year.

Boise State 48, New Mexico 14 This is a game the Wolf Pack has circled, guaranteed.

This is one of those Oh yeah, we can win that one games for a Nevada team that finished 3-10 last year and has lost 30 games the last three seasons.

The Pack also lost almost every starter on both sides of the ball from a year ago.

This (say it with me, Wolf Pack fans) is a winnable game for Eck and the boys, that is.

New Mexico 23, Nevada 21 Speaking of circling games on the calendar, this is the most anticipated date on the 2025 schedule.

Just call it the Bronco Mendenhall Bowl, the chance for the Lobos and all 13,000 (give or take) of their unblinking followers to come out and root more for a Utah State loss than a UNM win.

Mendenhalls one-year sham show with the Lobos dissolved the minute a team with deeper pockets from the Beehive State came calling.

New Mexico 28, Utah State 27 It still feels weird to consider the Rebels a conference power and a dark horse candidate for a CFP spot, but here we are.

Theyve won 20 games the last two seasons, including 11 a year ago when they won the L.A.

Bowl.

Theyve somehow turned Reliant Stadium into a fan-friendly experience (the lower bowl, anyway) and gotten people talking about Vegas football.

UNLV 47, New Mexico 13 Death, taxes and losing to the CSU Rams are lifes little certainties.

If it seems like the Lobos have lost a million in a row to these guys, youre not far off.

Colorado State hasnt lost to New Mexico since Mike Locksley was in his first year with the Lobos in 2009.

Thats Mike The Scoreboards Gonna Need A Third Digit Locksley.

This year looks to be more of the same because, well, the Rams should be relevant in the MWC race and the Lobos have scored just 13 points on them in their last three meetings.

Colorado State 29, New Mexico 9 Is this the new normal for the Falcons or was last seasons horrendous seven-game losing streak an anomaly? The fact is, the service academies dont reward NIL deals, they can only lose players to and not gain players from the transfer portal, and theyre entirely reliant on incoming high school cadets.

Not an easy thing in todays pay-to-play world.

The Lobos hung 52 on these guys last year, but that may have been a byproduct of AFAs ridiculously young roster.

Air Force 20, New Mexico 17 The Rocky Long Living Memorial Bowl may come down to a pair of teams hoping to avoid the Mountain West cellar.

The Aztecs opened Snapdragon Stadium three years ago and have split their first 20 home games.

Theyre just 4-13 everywhere else, and SDSU doesnt play well in colder, higher elevations.

Ecks team will have suffered a few tough losses by this point but should finish strong.

New Mexico 34, San Diego State 24 A 5-7 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the Mountain West.

Its not that far off from last seasons 5-7, 3-4 behind an offensive backfield that was simply electric, but theres reason to think this group will be ...

OK.

The question this year is who can/will start at quarterback? The Lobos dont need the second coming of Devon Dampier.

All they need is a game manager who can avoid turnovers and stay injury-free despite an offense that could still use another receiver or two.

The defensive secondary should be better, as will the linebackers.

This team may not be as flashy as Mendenhalls was, but rest assured it will fill a few missing pieces in the summer transfer portal and come into the fall with a chance to be competitive..

This article has been shared from the original article on santafenewmexican, here is the link to the original article.