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New Mexico will not play for a Mountain West title.

After four teams 鈥� UNM, Boise State, San Diego State and UNLV 鈥� tied for first place in the Mountain West standings, the league announced Sunday that the Broncos and Rebels will meet for the third straight year in the Mountain West Championship on Friday.

UNM (9-3, 6-2) beat SDSU 23-17 on Friday in double-overtime, clinching a share of first place in head coach Jason Eck鈥檚 first season with the program. The Lobos finished the season on a six-game winning streak to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2016.

Athletic director Fernando Lovo said in an official statement Sunday that he respects the league鈥檚 tiebreaking procedures, but said it was disappointing that UNM was not selected for its first-ever Mountain West Championship appearance.

鈥淭his team earned that chance with its play,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淭hese young men showed up every week, put in the work, and proved they belonged in the conversation. Their incredible turnaround on the field was matched by the renewed passion of our community, reflected in the top year-over-year attendance increase in the nation.

鈥淓ven with today鈥檚 disappointment, we are extremely proud of this group. Coach Eck, his staff and our student-athletes delivered a season that has changed the trajectory of our program and reminded people across our state and around the country what Lobo football is capable of 鈥� There is no doubt (Eck) should be in consideration for national coach of the year honors.鈥�

UNLV and Boise State were selected via 鈥渁 composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics,鈥� per the Mountain West鈥檚 tiebreaking procedures. The league used metrics to determine the title game鈥檚 participants because UNLV and SDSU did not play this season.

鈥淭he goal is to identify the two teams with the strongest full-season profiles when head-to-head can鈥檛 break a multi-team tie and a team is not ranked in the (College Football Playoff rankings),鈥� Mountain West spokesman Javan Hedlund told the Journal on Sunday. 鈥淲ith an unbalanced schedule and incomplete round-robin play, multi-team ties cannot be resolved through matchups alone. Our current structure uses modern metrics that capture both team strength and season accomplishment.鈥�

UNM鈥檚 composite average of 54.75 finished last behind UNLV (45.5), Boise State (47.75) and SDSU (51). Despite a lower average, Boise State is hosting UNLV based on its win over the Rebels in October.

The averages were compiled through each teams鈥� placement in four different metrics: ESPN鈥檚 Strength of Record (SOR), Bill Connelly鈥檚 SP+, Faktor sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥� KPI and sa国际传媒官网网页入口Source. SOR and KPI are both results-based metrics while SportSource and SP+ are predictive; SportSource is a proprietary metric and can only be accessed via subscription.

While the Mountain West has used computer metrics since 2013, the aforementioned set has only been part of the league鈥檚 tiebreaking procedures since 2024. The league previously used 鈥渓egacy BCS systems,鈥� Hedlund said, like the Colley Matrix, Anderson & Hester, Massey ratings and Wolfe ratings, only to move away because they were 鈥渄uplicative and predictive-heavy.鈥�

When asked why these new metrics were chosen to replace them, Hedlund told the Journal that 鈥渢hey are the most consistent, nationally credible option for our structure and aligns with best practices across FBS conferences and the CFP,鈥� adding that the change was approved by the conference鈥檚 athletic directors in 2024.

鈥淭he four metrics used are an equal complement of predictive and result-based metrics 鈥� Every power conference uses analytics in its tiebreakers (ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12) in some form, and all rely directly on SportSource Analytics,鈥� Hedlund said. 鈥淭he American Conference uses the exact same tiebreaking process. (Conference USA) uses a similar approach as well.鈥�

Prior to the announcement, Eck said the Lobos would 鈥渉old our heads high鈥� regardless of what happened with the tiebreaker. He told the team Friday they would receive rings after tying for first place, but 鈥減robably鈥� wouldn鈥檛 dedicate them to a conference championship if they did not win the tiebreaker.

鈥淏ut we鈥檒l put something on that ring and give them something they can be proud to wear around,鈥� Eck added in a news conference Friday. 鈥淎nd I told the team, 鈥榳e鈥檙e gonna find a way to get to 10 wins,鈥� whether we got two more opportunities or just have one to do that.

鈥淎nd I think it鈥檒l be a good lesson going forward that we didn鈥檛 play our best football early in the conference slate on the road 鈥� We controlled what we can control here down the stretch.鈥�