Lindsay, Estancia: Is Texico a good football team. Because Estancia plays them Friday night in Texico. I am a middle schooler From Estancia.

Van: Texico is a good team.  In football, the Wolverines can easily be considered the title town of the small classes in New Mexico.  Estancia had better bring their A game or it will be a very long night.

Adam: Texico is the class of small class Football.  Good luck to your bears!

Doug: Lindsay, thanks for your question, and yes, Texico is a very good football team that will give Estancia a tough time.  But have faith, you never know what can happen in any given game, so who knows, you might see an upset.

Devon: Thanks for the question Lindsay. Texico usually puts a very fast team on the field and seemed like Estancia had trouble with speed last week. If Estancia can establish a solid rushing defense they've got a shot.

Chris, Albuquerque: With a bad football team, I'm looking forward to basketball. Will Alford's Lobos play well this year?

Van: There really isn't a reason to think that they will not play well.  Alford and his staff took a team he wasn't familiar with and won 24 games in his first year.  There will be a little bit of a learning curve with six freshmen in the mix.  But, the skill set of the freshman class bring back memories of Charles Smith, Greg Brown, Kenny Thomas and Lamont Long.  With that kind of talent anything can happen if and when the young freshman learn how to play effective defense on the collegiate level.  The Mountain West will be more competitive with UNLV bringing out a load of experienced talent and BYU with their usual group of mature men back from their mission but, the Lobos should be able to compete.  Don't forget, Tony Danridge is back along with one of the best three point shooters in the country in Chad Toppert.

Adam: That’s a great question.  I think a lot of Lobo fans are really hoping Alford’s team will play well this year and I believe there’s a good chance.  They are young, but from what I’ve seen so far, they are athletic and talented.  The MWC is very strong this season, with 4 teams (UNLV, BYU, Utah, and UNM) that could win it all in my mind, so we’ll just have to see what unfolds.

Doug: Chris, I think the Lobo men will be fine, though because of all the newcomers they may get out of the gate a little slow.  After all, they have to get used to not having J.R. Giddens and Tony Danridge hasn't seen game action in a year.  How new players like Philip McDonald and Will Brown step in and adjust to Division One Basketball will be key.  But all in all, like the song goes, the future's so bright, we've all gotta wear shades.

Devon: Don't put football season to bed just yet—technically there's still 25 percent of the Lobos schedule left to be played. If they win the last two, they're probably looking at a date with their third straight New Mexico Bowl. As for Alford, his team is under extraordinary pressure to improve on last season's success. His team has the talent to contend in this conference.

Dave, Albuquerque: Do the Lobos have any chance of a bowl after that loss to AFA?

Van: Coach Long believes they can go if they win seven games.  That means the Lobos with have to run the table. With three games to go and two on the road, that is a tall order.  The Lobos have nationally ranked Utah at University Stadium as their final home game next week.  Utah will be coming off a bye week and fighting to keep their BCS hopes alive.  Speaking of BCS, if Utah goes that route for a bowl game it would free up another bowl in the Mountain West.  If that happened the Lobos could get in at 6 and 6.  That means they would only have to win two of their last three games.

Adam: See above.  In my mind, there’s very little chance of UNM beating Utah.  That means the Lobos will have to beat both UNLV and CSU in order to get bowl eligible.  I do think this is possible.  Actually, I think it’s likely.  However, if they beat both those teams and become bowl eligible, guess which bowl they’ll likely go to?  It could be another New Mexico Bowl year for the Lobos.

Doug: The Lobos still have a chance at a bowl.  They need to win two of their last three to become bowl eligible at 6-6, but realistically need to win 7 games to make it more of a lock so they need to win all three.  It doesn't look good.

Devon: If you want the Lobos to go to a bowl then you'd better start cheering for TCU and Utah (excluding next Saturday's game at UNM). You see, the conference only has four bowl "guaranteed" bowl tie-ins, and the conference already has four bowl eligible teams. To make matters worse, three of those teams hold tie breakers over UNM, and the other team (Utah) will finish with more wins. Therefore, the Lobos MUST WIN their last two games against UNLV and Colorado State. However, A 6-6 Lobo team could go bowling with a little assistance from the BCS.

Stan, Albuquerque: What happened to BYU!!! We got cheated last week for them to completely lay an egg against TCU? Has the Mountain West's BCS bubble burst?

Van: The Mountain West BCS bubble is alive and well in the form of Utah.  The Utes still have a chance if they remain undefeated.  You ask what happened to BYU?  BYU ran into the fastest team in the Mountain West.  The only people who thought BYU would beat TCU are the people from BYU, their fans around the country and the so called experts on a variety of national broadcast who will not be named.   Before the game started, I tried to tell one of our employees that TCU was too fast to lose.  He told me it would be 17 to nothing.  It was....in favor of TCU at one point in the first half.  The Horned Frogs are the real deal.

Adam: You play for UNM?  You said “we.”  Further, BYU pretty much did lay an egg against a very good UNM defense.  TCU just finished the job with a little bit better defense and a much better offense.  As for the MWC’s BCS bubble, ask Utah.  The Ute’s are undefeated and relatively high in the top 25, with a chance for a BCS Bowl.

Doug: Stan, TCU has a lot better team than people think.  Their speed on defense is key and it showed Thursday night.  Utah is still unbeaten and carrying the BCS torch for the Mountain West but I don't think they're gonna stay that way.

Devon: A Lobo touchdown was negated by a poor call, but I don't buy into the conspiracy theories. As for BYU, they were reckless with the ball and didn't respect the overall team speed of TCU. The Mountain West will get a team in the BCS still; odds are it will be Utah.

Joe, Albuquerque: How many games does UNM have to lose before they fire Rocky Long. We can't keep playing this 1970's style football. Watching UNM is like watching high school football, and I'm almost convinced that this years Eldorado Eagles can wipe the Lobos all over the field.

Van: Are you serious?  Your Eldorado would beat the Lobos statement shows me that your football knowledge involves the use of crayons.   How can anyone take you serious when your take is so ridiculous.  What do you know about the Lobos program?  Rocky Long has developed players and made the team a competitive force in the Mountain West every year.  They have yet to win the conference but, they go to a bowl every year and are in most games they play.  When they do win a MWC championship, it will be solid...just like the program.  They will reach a level of play and sustain it.  Rocky has built a solid program.  He is easily the most successful coach in UNM history.  That so called 1970's style of football you talked about is being copied by other programs.  Long's defense has been copied by coaches all over the country.  Some even abandon it because they can't run it like Rocky.  Do your homework before you ask another question.  It might make your take a lot better.

Adam: You play for UNM too?  You also said “we.”  UNM just gave Rocky Long a contract extension.  Take that question to Paul Krebs, because Rocky’s not going anywhere.  P.S. You lost all credibility when you brought up the fact that you were “almost convinced that this years Eldorado Eagles can wipe the Lobos all over the field.”  This argument is ridiculous.  How many Division 1 prospects does Eldorado have, maybe one or two?  EVERY guy on UNM is a Division 1 player!

Doug: 1970's style football, what do you think UNM runs, the wing T?  Not exactly.  UNM just gave Rocky a five year contract extension worth $750,000 a year, a definate show of confidence in what he's doing.  Don't look for Rocky to be fired anytime soon, and Joe you're pretty foolish to think Eldorado could beat UNM in football.

Devon: I don't think they played the 3-3-5 defense in the 1970's. The defense put the team in a position to win the game last week, but the offense just couldn't come through. If your beef is with the Lobos loosing; you should be calling for Offensive Coordinator Dave Baldwin's head, not Long's.