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If you want a perverse pleasure after a Lobos loss in The Pit, turn into KKOB-AM (770) and listen to the postgame babble.

And we're not talking about the host Scott Stigler, who shows an amazing amount of patience and control in weeding through the comments and the callers.

"Stig" actually lets the callers make their points, dull or not, doesn't get angry and even will take a shot or two at the University of New Mexico men's basketball team when it has earned some criticism.

Often after a Lobos loss, you get the "sky is falling" thing.

It seems a lot of "Lobos fans" can't wait to jump off the bandwagon or maybe get their thrills hoping the Lobos go down in flames.

Must be frustrated sports columnists.

There was some of that Saturday night after UNM blew a 14-point lead in the first half and lost 72-67 to San Diego State.

Some of the callers seemed to focus on the fragility that Lobos coach Steve Alford also sees in his 2007-08 squad which basically is the lack of big athletes.

The core of some of these comments was right on.

UNM's 6-foot-9 Daniel Faris is not an intimidating force inside. He gets little help from 6-10 Monquel Pegues or 6-8 Johnnie Harris.

The Lobos have three small guards in 6-1 Dairese Gary, 6-1 Darren Prentice and 5-9 Jamaal Smith.

Chad Toppert and Roman Martinez start for the Lobos, but they are about as intimidating on the wings as Faris is inside.

There are several reasons the Aztecs beat the Lobos in The Pit and the size of the athleticism on the court was one big reason.

The Aztecs were bigger, better, badder athletes. And they played well — better than the smaller Lobos.

When the Aztecs wanted the basketball, they jumped over the Lobos and got it — kind of like what UNM's J.R. Giddens can do when he wants the basketball.

This sort of thing is going to happen to UNM several times this season. They aren't going to shoot well. Their perimeter stuff isn't going to fall. Their size is going to hurt them.

It happened Saturday night in The Pit. The only Lobo capable of playing with SDSU on a pure athletic level — Giddens — was the only Lobo who seemed to know he could play with the Aztecs.

Giddens scored 24 points. He hauled down 11 rebounds. The other Lobos seem willing to let Giddens win the game. He couldn't do it.

Another point made on KKOB after the game was that Alford was outcoached by SDSU coach Steve Fisher.

Sure, Fisher's Aztecs fell behind by 14 and won by five. That's a 19-point turnaround. Give Fisher some credit.

But Fisher didn't outcoach Alford. He outrecruited Alford's predecessor at UNM, Ritchie McKay.

So, does this mean the Lobos will get it together enough to win Tuesday at TCU? Who knows? TCU hammered Wyoming by 27 points in Fort Worth on Saturday. TCU had 46 rebounds.

The Horned Frogs have a similar advantage in size and athleticism through the lineup.

Which does put a little pressure on Alford's back. He had the Lobos believing they were as good as any other team in the MWC.

Alford has to go fool his little Lobos again. If not, maybe that sky will fall just a little bit.