Free Pick | Saturday | Bowl | Dec. 16

#207 New Mexico State -3.5 over Fresno State 4:45 PM CT

The only win for the Aggies over Fresno State came back in 2011 when both teams were part of the WAC. The Aggies had a 27-17 win in this stadium earlier this season vs. rival New Mexico with Albuquerque a little over three hours north of Las Cruces as New Mexico State can expect to have reasonable support for this game. New Mexico State has made an incredible transformation with now back-to-back bowl bids under Jerry Kill and the Aggies competed well in an eventual 14-point loss at Liberty in the Conference USA Championship game. This is a team that won by 21 at Auburn in November and this year’s team can reach 11 wins for the first time since the 1960 11-0 team. Fresno State was a competitive 8-4 team this season with notable wins over Purdue, Arizona State, and defeating both MWC Championship participants UNLV and Boise State. Shortly after the regular season, which ended with three consecutive losses, Jeff Tedford announced he would step away from the team for health reasons. Linebackers coach Tim Skipper will lead the team in this game, with the expectation that Tedford, 62, could still return to lead the program next season. Diego Pavia has been in a questionable injury situation the past few games, but he has consistently been on the field and will be the top playmaker in this game while the team has not reported any major losses from the transfer portal, a rare team that can make that claim. Fresno State’s offensive line has been beset with injuries down the stretch and lost starting safety Crishawn Gordon in the transfer portal as things look much more stable for the Aggies in this contest.