August is upon us and that means football season. However, as an Aggie fan it means the beginning of suspense. Every year starts with the question, "Will this be the year?" If you keep up with NMSU Football, this question poses no confusion. The Aggies have not been to a bowl game since 1960, which also serves as the Aggies' best season which ended at 11-0. And since 1970, it's become fact that the view of the mountains from Aggie Memorial Stadium is likely better than the view of the scoreboard, as NMSU has racked up only 4 winning seasons. Most recent being in 2002 under former coach Tony Samuel. Since the acquisition of Athletic Director McKinley Boston in 2005, NMSU football has already fired one coach, and hired another. In addition, The Aggies record has taken a sufficient blow since the release of Coach Samuel compiling a record of 20-67. As the 2012 Football season approaches, the Aggies unfortunate football woes have brought an uninvited problem of conference re-alignment. NMSU is one of two teams left in the WAC football conference. With other conferences uncertain whether the acquisition of New Mexico State would benefit them, it's likely that the 2012 Season carries a sense of "Do or Die" for the Las Cruces natives.
Should conferences be watching the Aggies closely this season, it couldn't come at a more opportune time for them. Though there are only six conference games this year, the Aggies have a chance to make a statement and beat the schools whom have been chosen before them for conference invites (UTSA, Texas State, Utah State, San Jose State, and La. Tech) Their game against Idaho seems to draw the idea of the winner deserving an invite more. Finally you have the rivalries with UTEP and New Mexico. These games are against teams who already belong to the conferences that NMSU looked for refuge, but to no avail. Should NMSU win both these games and beat UTSA, Utah State and San Jose State, it could likely serve as a slap in the face to both the Mountain West Conference and Conference-USA. As if to say "We are better than who you invited or who you have."
After Watching the Aggies play last year I saw a team filled with Improvement from the year before, despite their 4-9 record. This year, Andrew Manley returns to calling plays and is an anchor for the Aggie offense. The Aggies have a strong chance to walk away with a statement-making season. Playing their cards right, NMSU can end 2012 with a convincing 9-3 record, calculating their only losses being Auburn, BYU, and La Tech. Now, I'm not throwing random hopes out there, instead i have reasoning behind my seemingly far fetched prediction. The games against New Mexico, Sacramento State, UTSA, and Texas State, will serve as likely wins for the Aggies. New Mexico played extremely poorly last year and even with a new coach need time to improve. UTSA and Texas state are formerly FCS schools which will prove to be a rough year for them in their inaugural FBS year. Ohio is a toss-up and is probably my only game which I feel predicting an Aggie win is merely on the lines of hope. UTEP will be tough only on the grounds of it being at the Sun Bowl. Yet NMSU has the advantage as UTEP plays two power houses in week one and two. I just see UTEP being too bruised and beaten to keep up with an Aggie team who has taken it lightly for the first two games. Utah State and San Jose State were both close games last year, but with both teams losing key players and NMSU only losing one, An experienced team should prevail.
This year is it, "do or die!" NMSU has the ball in their court. I will be following NMSU throughout the entire season and putting up my recap and personal thoughts about their weekly performance. Go Aggies!
2012 Schedule (PREDICTIONS)
Sacramento State, W 42-10
@Ohio, W 30-27
@UTEP, W 38-20
New Mexico, W 45-17
UTSA, W 34-24
@Idaho, W 31-13
@Utah State, W 28-24
La Tech, L 21-38
@Auburn, L 14-42
San Jose State, W 38-31
BYU, L 31-35
@Texas State, W 42-24
