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A win-and-you're-in slogan doesn't apply to the University of New Mexico football team.

The Lobos' bowl fate depends less on Saturday's result against UNLV and more on the outcomes of two other games involving TCU and Kansas State.

"It has nothing to do with us," Lobos head coach Rocky Long said at Tuesday's weekly media luncheon when asked about his team's bowl prospects entering Saturday's season finale at home against UNLV.

Added Long: "We could beat UNLV by 50 points and still be sitting at home (in the postseason). We could lose and still go to a bowl."

He's right.

A victory over the Rebels would give the Lobos an 8-4 record, but no assurance of a bowl berth in any of the Mountain West Conference's four bowl tie-ins.

Unless BYU loses its final two games against Wyoming and Utah, the Cougars are headed to the Las Vegas Bowl as league champs.

The second choice goes to the Poinsetta Bowl in San Diego, with Utah considered the front-runner to get the bid.

That leaves the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth and the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque to consider Air Force, New Mexico and TCU for bowl invitations.

A TCU loss to San Diego State would leave the Horned Frogs at 6-6 and out of the MWC bowl games. The NCAA mandates leagues must take teams with seven or eight wins ahead of a 6-6 bowl-eligible team in the same conference.

If the Horned Frogs fall, the Lobos will clinch a bowl bid whether they win or lose to UNLV. Under that scenario, UNM likely would head to Fort Worth and Air Force likely would play in Albuquerque.

A TCU win could still result in UNM going bowling if Kansas State (5-6) loses its season finale Saturday at Fresno State. A Wildcats loss would leave them ineligible to fill the Big 12's slot in the Texas Bowl at Houston. If that happens, the MWC could send TCU (if it wins) to Houston and UNM to Fort Worth.

Other bowl opportunities for UNM could surface in Honolulu or Boise if either undefeated Hawaii or one-loss Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference are invited to a Bowl Championship Series game.

Long said regardless of the outcome of UNM's game against UNLV, the Lobos deserve a chance to play in the postseason.

"I know that sounds funny to say but this team deserves to go to a bowl, win or lose," he said.

Boss talks: MWC Commissioner Craig Thompson said during Tuesday's teleconference that the Lobos were unlikely to receive a bowl berth from the New Mexico Bowl because of a clause in the contract with ESPN that a New Mexico team could only appear once every three years. UNM played San Jose State in last year's inaugural bowl game at University Stadium.

"I don't know how they could get out of it (the clause)," Thompson said. "It's in the contract and we signed it."

UNM officials said on Sunday that the Lobos could be granted an invitation to the New Mexico Bowl if the league's athletics directors voted to do so. But Thompson said he was unaware of any deal to send UNM to the New Mexico Bowl.

Eight is great: A win on Saturday would give the Lobos an eight-win season for only the eighth time in UNM's history, and only the fourth time since 1965.

"Eight wins makes them a special team in school history," Long said.

Long said the players are also motivated to beat UNLV to make the team more attractive to bowl officials "in case it gets political." He also said the final home game for UNM's 21 seniors is enough of a reason for the Lobos to play well.

"Guess what? They just want to play the game," Long said.

Aztecs Part II: Long said he views UNLV much like the SDSU Aztec team UNM edged 20-17 on Oct. 20.

"If we get their best shot, it's going to go down to the wire," Long said.

A close game would appear to favor the Lobos, who have won eight straight games decided by three or fewer points.