The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team fell to fifth place in the Mountain West Conference upon losing 84-73 on Wednesday night at league rival Utah State, which led by as many as 20 points and was in control throughout.
A win would have kept the Lobos in third place — and interestingly, a plurality of Journal readers — 32 percent as of this writing — believe that’s where UNM will end up in the 11-team league standings. Then 25 percent project UNM to finish in fourth place. Only 8 percent believe UNM will overtake the field and win the regular season title and top seed heading into the Mountain West tournament next month.
The top five teams in the league all have played 10 regular season games. Of UNM’s eight remaining regular season games, four are at home, beginning with the much-anticipated home date Tuesday against Nevada and head coach Steve Alford.
Perhaps as critically, only three of UNM’s remaining eight games are against teams above them in the standings. While drawing Utah State only once this year was a break for UNM, having to play the Aggies on the road obviously wasn’t.
So, take a look at the league standings through Wednesday’s games below, and join the hundreds who already have voted: Where do you see the Lobos finishing in the league standings?
