UNM football favored to win Mountain West under Jason Eck
UNM football enters Jason Eck’s second season as the Mountain West betting favorite, raising the stakes for tickets, donors and campus visibility in Albuquerque.
UNM football enters Jason Eck’s second season as the consensus betting favorite to win the Mountain West, a sharp turn for a program that now carries real conference-title expectations in Albuquerque. Eck was named New Mexico’s 34th head football coach on Dec. 14, 2024, and the market’s view of the Lobos has moved quickly enough to make a championship run part of the conversation.
That matters because the Mountain West still crowns its champion through an annual title game, not a simple regular-season finish. In other words, being the favorite only gets New Mexico to the front of the line. The Lobos still have to survive the league schedule, then handle the postseason pressure that decides the conference champion.
New Mexico was already showing up in Mountain West championship odds coverage in 2024, but the current outlook reflects a program that has moved from curiosity to contender. The recent league race explains why. Boise State, New Mexico and San Diego State all finished Mountain West play at 6-2 in 2025, and Boise State won the four-way tiebreaker to host UNLV in the conference championship game. After that disappointment, UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo said, “Even with today’s disappointment, we are extremely proud of this group.”
That near miss now frames the payoff attached to Eck’s rise. A winning season would not just affect the standings. It would change the mood around the University of New Mexico, where stronger football expectations typically feed attendance, donor energy and the school’s visibility across Bernalillo County and the broader Albuquerque market. The difference between being a respectable mid-pack team and a legitimate title favorite shows up in empty seats, in fundraising conversations and in whether the Lobos are part of the city’s weekly sports identity.
The challenge is that favorite status is fragile in the Mountain West. The 2025 standings showed how little separated the top teams, and the conference’s title-game format leaves no margin for a slow start or a late stumble. For UNM, Jason Eck’s second season is not about proving the Lobos can be competitive. It is about proving they can turn that competition into a championship path.
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