The New Mexico State Aggies battle the UTEP Miners Saturday in Week 0 college football action from Aggie Memorial Stadium. The Miners are coming off a rough season, posting a 3-5 record overall and going 0-4 in Conference USA play for a last-place finish. As for the Aggies, they saw their season suspended in August but were able to play a couple of games early this year. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
UTEP had a handful of games cancelled last season due to virus restrictions, but they were able to play eight matchups between September and December. The Miners started out 3-1 with wins over Stephen F. Austin, Abilene Christian and Louisiana Monroe, but things got worse from there.
The Miners lost their final four games to Louisiana Tech, Charlotte, UTSA and North Texas, leaving the team in the bottom of the West Division. The good news is that UTEP improved over a rough 1-11 2019 record.
Over on the Aggies’ side, their school suspended all sports competitions back on August 13, and had to scrap a full slate of games. New Mexico State was finally able to play in February versus Tarleton State, falling 43-17 in a blowout.
The only other game the Aggies were able to get in was a March 7 affair versus Dixie State. That one went better for New Mexico State, ending up a 36-29 victory. Ninth-year head coach Doug Martin will be back at the helm this year, and hopefully the team will be able to get in a full slate of matchups.
The Miners are 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall and 7-19 ATS in their last 26 non-conference games. UTEP is 8-23 ATS in their last 31 on turf and the over is 6-2 in their last eight road games.
Meanwhile, the Aggies are 4-1 ATS in their last five on turf and 4-1 ATS in their last five at home. New Mexico State is 9-19-1 ATS in their last 29 overall and 4-9 ATS in their last 13 versus Conference USA.
PICK: I’m going to stick with the Miners in this one. The good news for UTEP last season is that they showed some real promise running the ball last year. Lead rusher Deion Hankins put up 592 yards and nine scores. He headlines an interesting group of ball carriers that will guide the Miners offense. As for the Aggies, it’s hard to gauge where they’re at with such little on-field action over the last year. New Mexico State does have some solid offensive weapons though, and should hang around for most of this game.