It's been pretty rough going for the Aggies of New Mexico State University-Haven't been to a bowl game in over five decades, has gone from the Sunbelt to the WAC to being an Independent and then back to the 'Belt again in a matter of ten years and just here recently was sued by Oklahoma State University for infringing on their "Pistol Pete" logo (see above).
The good news was that both Universities resolved the matter; NMSU pays OSU $10 a year to keep using "classic Aggie" (as well as not selling more than 3,000 items of merchandise containing the logo). The bad news was that 2014 was another dismal year for the long suffering program. Going into the season, their depth chart included nearly three times as many freshmen and sophomores, 13, as seniors, five. To say that the NSMU Aggies were young would be putting midly.
Head man Doug Martin is entering his third season at the helm. Coming into Las Cruces, he inherited a program that until this signing year hadn't maintained an 80 man roster since the 2007 season. Despite the lack of man power and depth, Martin in his first two seasons didn't dive straight into the JUCO pool, still primarily signing high school players with a few JUCOs here and there (of the 24 players he signed in 2015, only three came from JUCOs with the remainder all from high schools). An interesting tactic, albeit one that's risky.
Though he's only been at Las Cruces for a few months, NMSU AD Mario Moccia seemingly still supports his head coach all the way as of now, but sitting at 4-19 in two seasons, you have to wonder if the Aggies don't show any sign of positive momentum how patient will Moccia be.
SCHEDULE:
| Saturday Sep. 5 |  | at Florida Gators Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL | TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Sep. 12 |  | Georgia State Panthers Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Sep. 19 |  | UTEP Miners Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Sep. 26 | --- | Open Date | --- | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 3 |  | at New Mexico Lobos University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 10 |  | at Ole Miss Rebels Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS | TBA | Buy Tickets |
| Saturday Oct. 17 |  | at Georgia Southern Eagles Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, GA | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 24 |  | Troy Trojans Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Oct. 31 |  | Idaho Vandals Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 7 |  | at Texas State Bobcats Bobcat Stadium, San Marcos, TX | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 14 | --- | Open Date | --- | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 21 |  | at Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns Cajun Field, Lafayette, LA | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Nov. 28 |  | Arkansas State Red Wolves Aggie Memorial Stadium, Las Cruces, NM | TBA | --- |
| Saturday Dec. 5 |  | at ULM Warhawks Malone Stadium, Monroe, LA |
If the Aggies are going to have a relatively successful 2015 campaign, it's certainly not going to come easy. Catching SEC perennial powerhouse Florida in the swamp and facing a rising Ole Miss program is quite frankly going to suck; long time rivalry games against UTEP and the Lobos have been big thorns in NMSU's side for several seasons now and the fact the Aggies miss on playing App State in conference play is certainly not the biggest break they could've gotten, as they still have to travel to both Louisiana schools, San Marcos and defending champs Georgia Southern.
Prediction:
The make or break aspect of the season is going to be whether the trial and error that has been the last two seasons will result in the maturing of this squad. Both NMSU administrators as well as Aggie fans have been very patient and understanding that this was going to be a timely rebuilding phase for Martin, but make no mistake its time to show some type of improvement from last year. I'm not talking about getting to a bowl game; heck, six wins seems to be a tall order with the schedule the Aggies are facing; however the Georgia State and Idaho games at home are very winnable, and if the defense can step up and play just a little bit more consistently than last year, it shouldn't be asking too much to get to three, perhaps even four wins.
My SBC team previews have sounded very similar I know (young, experienced teams with coaches that have stumbled out of the gates), however unlike Paul Petrino and Trent Miles, I have faith in Doug Martin; he's remain calm cool and collective, stuck to his rebuilding plan and I think New Mexico State will finally break to three wins this season.
DREAM SEASON: Aggies are able to nab at least one from either UTEP or New Mexico, take down the Vandals and Panthers at home and come up with an upset on the road in SBC play to get to four wins.
NIGHTMARE: The NMSU squad still shows little to no development or chemistry and only win two or less. Martin probably doesn't get fired, but will have his seat warmer bumper from mild to very very warm.
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