New Mexico Bowl – Fresno State vs. UTEP Spread, Line, Odds, Predictions, Picks, and Betting Preview
The PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl goes down Saturday, December 18, between the Fresno State Bulldogs (9-3) and the UTEP Miners (7-5). Fresno represents the Mountain West, which has won the New Mexico Bowl three straight seasons, while UTEP hails from the Conference USA.
One note of interest will be the coaching situation for the Bulldogs. Kalen DeBoer bolted for the Washington job, leading Fresno to hire a familiar face — former head coach Jeff Tedford, who was the coach before DeBoer but stepped down for two seasons following heart surgery in 2020.
The last time Tedford was in Fresno, he led a dramatic improvement in the 2017 season. The Bulldogs improved by nine wins from 2016 and captured a Hawaii Bowl win over Houston to notch ten wins in the campaign. They won 12 games the next year — a mark of the heights that Tedford has led this program to in years past. In all, the Bulldogs went 26-14 in Tedford's first reign from 2017-2019, including a Mountain West Championship and two bowl game wins.
It's uncertain who will be under center for the Bulldogs. Star quarterback Jake Haener originally entered the transfer portal following the DeBoer news but has since withdrawn his name from the portal following the return of Tedford. They feature a top-ten passing attack and will already be without Haener's top target in receiver Jalen Cropper (transfer portal), so monitor Haener's status closely before placing a bet.
UTEP will be making its first bowl game appearance since 2018 and has lost six straight bowl games. They'll be highly motivated to notch a bowl win over a superior team operating at much less than 100% giving the coaching carousel and transfer portal madness. Our initial lean is to grab the points with the Miners.
