Jake Schoellkopf/Associated Press

University of New Mexico men's basketball coach Ritchie McKay reacts during a game against Colorado State last week. McKay, in his fifth year at UNM, has come under increased scrutiny by fans on Internet message boards and sports talk radio with the Lobos mired in a four-game losing streak.

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Disillusionment and Disappointment have gathered forces.

Their joint target is Ritchie McKay, the beleaguered coach of the University of New Mexico men's basketball program.

Disillusionment is not showing up for Lobos games in The Pit.

Disillusionment has crashed Pit attendance in each of McKay's five seasons - down from 15,186 in 2002-03 to 12,675 through 11 home games in 2006-07.

Disillusionment is costing UNM some big bucks and putting the heat on Paul Krebs, UNM's first-year athletics director, to make this season McKay's last as a Lobo.

"I wouldn't want to be in Paul Krebs' shoes," said Jamie Koch, president of the UNM Board of Regents.

Koch said the regents would not make a recommendation on McKay's future, but will trust Krebs' judgment.

Disappointment isn't happy with McKay, either.

Disappointment has shown up to see McKay's Lobos lose by a combined 55 points to Texas-El Paso and New Mexico State.

Disappointment saw McKay's Lobos lose to Kansas State in a rematch, lose to Colorado State in The Pit and blow a 21-point lead at Air Force for a 65-57 loss.

Disappointment is still not happy with the coach that Rudy Davalos, the former UNM athletics director, stole from Oregon State.

The thing about Disappointment is that he might join the ranks of Disillusionment.

If so, The Pit will grow emptier.

For now, going into tonight's Mountain West Conference game against Utah - and probably for the rest of the season - McKay is safe.

"He's our coach," Krebs said. "The singular focus is on the team and what we can do to support the staff. Wins and losses are important. We all know that."

The support for the team might be there from the UNM administration, but it is fading fast with the public as the team sits on a four-game losing streak.

McKay's status remains topic No. 1 in the community, only now the program is talked about in either the past tense (how great it used to be) or in the future (presumably after McKay is gone).

Even in McKay's proudest moment - a 26-7 season in 2005, a conference tournament championship, an NCAA Tournament berth - the attendance declined from 14,309 to 13,387 the next season.

McKay can't seem to generate support for his program. The recent losing streak hasn't helped.

"Ritchie, if you read this, please resign. You are a horrible coach," read one comment attached to The Tribune's web story after the loss at Air Force on Tuesday.

The negative tone aimed at McKay is similar on various Internet sites and radio talk shows.

McKay seems unfazed. He said he doesn't expect to be fired at the end of the season.

"I don't fear losing my job," McKay told The Tribune on Friday. "The reason I don't fear is because of who I am in Christ.

"I think we run a first-class program. I'm not here to make everybody happy. If the administration feels a change needs to be made, if they're not satisfied, then I'm sure they'll do it.

"I'm not worried about whatever happens."

McKay's fifth season leading the high-profile UNM men's basketball team has been a story of high hopes and dashed dreams.

Fans' expectations were raised early after Pit blowout victories over Big 12 foes Colorado and Kansas State and a 5-0 start that included a thrilling squeaker at home over the rival New Mexico State Aggies.

Then came the lows: the lopsided road losses at NMSU and Texas-El Paso.

A win over then-No. 8 Wichita State seemed to suggest the Lobos might rebound from those unsettling setbacks, but the start of league play brought more misery.

The Lobos (11-7) are trying to break out of their four-game slump - McKay's longest as the UNM coach - against the equally struggling Utah Utes.

In the midst and aftermath of the lows, McKay has been blistered, bruised and now ambushed by the scrutiny of unforgiving Lobos fans.

Fans on message boards have started listing possible replacements, questioning everything from McKay's recruiting, his coaching tactics and his team's inability to finish.

Still, not everyone in Albuquerque disapproves of McKay's job.

"I personally would hate to see him go," said John Perner, past Lobo Club president and current booster. "I think he's a great person."

But unless the Lobos reverse their recent losing trend, the Lobos are poised for one NCAA Tournament berth in five seasons under McKay. UNM has started the Mountain West Conference season 0-3 for the first time since the 1979-80 season.

Even some boosters are unsettled about McKay's future, Perner said.

"There are people who want a change," he said. "There's concern, but there's also support, a lot of people who want to give him time. It's a tough call because it's a mixed bag."

It's easy to measure the basketball product on the court by talent, but some prefer inches.

As in, where are the 7-footers? Where's the imposing lineup?

After five seasons under McKay, UNM's primary front court is anchored by 6-foot-8 Aaron Johnson and 6-9 Daniel Faris, both role players.

The Lobos have 6-11 freshman Derek Oestreicher redshirting this season, and McKay said he's confident in the big men he has in place.

Guard J.R. Giddens, the team's top scorer at 17.7 points per game, has missed the last two games, both losses, with an ankle sprain. McKay said "grace should be allowed" when a team's best player is out. Giddens is "day to day" and might play against the Utes.

As far as running a program, McKay isn't the exciting, charismatic leader people expect of a Lobos coach, observers say.

Some former players who remember a packed Pit, and a passionate Lobos fan base are now confused.

Michael Cooper, coach of the Albuquerque Thunderbirds who played for UNM from 1976-78, said the program is approaching disaster, but "coach McKay and (Athletics Director) Paul Krebs still have a chance to get this thing rolling."

"It's disheartening," Cooper said. "It's time to get fans excited again, because I don't feel it now."

Krebs says he plans to evaluate all Lobos coaches at the end of the season. His criteria for evaluation are collected during the season and include factors such as a team's record, academics, team behavior and morale, recruiting and teaching.

It would likely take a criminal act by a coach or a major moral dilemma to prompt an in-season move, he said.

For some Lobos fans, it's not just McKay's seven losses this season, it's the nature of the losses.

Davalos, the former Lobos AD who hired McKay in 2002, told The Tribune during a December radio show that UNM's road losses to UTEP and New Mexico State were "pitiful." The Lobos lost by a combined 55 points in those games, including 31 to the Aggies, led by second-year coach Reggie Theus.

Davalos declined to comment for this story.

McKay, an outspoken Christian, has alienated some fans by making his faith too much a part of the program. Coalitions like the ACLU have claimed McKay mixes religion with coaching.

Whether it's because of his religious views, the prevalent losing atmosphere or his inability to bond with a seemingly apathetic fan base, McKay's five-year body of work has left others wondering about his future.

Boosters say they understand McKay isn't considered a sexy pick as a head coach, but they warn that picking a high-profile replacement can have its drawbacks, too.

"Maybe we could go for a Reggie Theus or something like that, but they won't be here that long," Perner said. "Do we want a few years of glory and then a change over? The way I look at it, I think if Ritchie was successful and won the conference every year, he'd still want to stay."

But is longevity - especially if it involves prolonged stretches of mediocrity - better than a program getting a fresh start with a coach who can revive the passion of The Pit?

"All I'm saying is this - we need to build a winning attitude within the conference, within the community and within the state," said Kelvin Scarborough, one of the top point guards in UNM history. "Whoever can provide that should be the coach."

The chance for McKay to restore Lobos basketball might depend on the product on the court for the next six weeks.

Once March hits, Disappointment might prevail. Or join the ranks of Disillusionment.