New Mexico listed by sportsbooks as favorite to win first Mountain West title
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No, hell hasn’t frozen over.
But a look at some early Mountain West futures — and where the Lobos ended up — might give you the impression it has.
For the first time in program history, New Mexico is the consensus favorite to win the new-look league, according to odds provided by three national sportsbooks.
Caesar’s Sportsbook lists UNM as a 2-1 favorite (+200) to win the Mountain West after finishing 9-4 overall and tying for first place in head coach Jason Eck’s first year with the program. BetMGM and DraftKings Sportsbook also list the Lobos as the favorite to win the league with 11/5 (+220) odds.
UNLV is a close second in every book while Hawaii and Air Force lag behind with the third- and fourth-best odds. San Jose State, Wyoming, Nevada, Northern Illinois and UTEP all have odds greater than 10-1.
FanDuel Sportsbook, Fanatics Sportsbook, Hard Rock Sportsbook and Circa have not released Mountain West futures yet.
The Lobos’ appointment as the league’s odds-on preseason favorite comes after head coach Jason Eck’s historic 9-4 debut season and ahead of Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State’s imminent departure for the Pac-12.
The Mountain West added UTEP as a full member and Northern Illinois and perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State as football-only members to bring the league to 10 teams entering this season.
As part of its transition to the FBS, North Dakota State is still ineligible to play in the Mountain West Championship and does not currently have odds to win the league. But the NCAA Division I Oversight Committee has introduced legislation to eliminate the two-year waiting period for programs in transition; a change to the bylaw could come as early as this summer.
UNM has not won an outright league championship since winning the WAC in 1964. The Lobos last played in a conference championship game in 1997, falling 41-13 to Colorado State.
“We talk about it. I’ll be disappointed if we’re not a conference championship team,” Eck said after UNM’s spring game on April 25. “That’s putting a lot of pressure on this team, but I think we earned it … That’s what we’re shooting for.”
A less-than-fond farewell?
A former Lobo has drawn some attention on social media for discussing his departure from the program.
In an interview posted to his TikTok account, punter Daniel Hughes admitted there was at least one aspect of his departure from UNM that upset him.
Hughes said he told the coaching staff he intended to enter the transfer portal and agreed to announce as much after the Rate Bowl in late December. While not directly categorizing it as backlash, the Melbourne, Australia native said he was hurt by what happened after.
“Soon as I (announced), UNM’s (Instagram account) unfollowed me, the head coach unfollowed me, his wife unfollowed me,” he said. “I was like, are you f***ing serious?”
Hughes averaged 45.4 yards per punt in his lone season with the Lobos before transferring to Florida State. He previously played one year at City College of San Francisco and Australian rules football in his home country.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.
Mountain West 2026-27 Football Futures
New Mexico, +220
UNLV, +240
Hawaii, +400
Air Force, +550
San Jose State, +1694
Wyoming, +1895
Nevada, +3000
Northern Illinois, +6000
UTEP, +8000
North Dakota State, ineligible
*consensus odds compiled by actionnetwork.com
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