UCLA Football: Ranking Bruins’ 2020 opponents by toughness

As an independent, New Mexico State hasn’t exactly seen a ton of success, going just 5-19 over the past two seasons after switching over from the Sun Belt in 2017 — the Aggies won seven games, including the Arizona Bowl that year.

With four bowl berths in the history of the program and a mediocre roster returning from a squad that finished just 2-10 last year, it’s clear that if there are non-conference games kept on the schedule, New Mexico State would be the worst team the Bruins face.

Say goodbye to Cole McDonald who had a nice career with the Rainbow Warriors, but even more importantly, Nick Rolovich left for the vacant Washington State job this offseason.

Miles Reed is back after nearly rushing for 1,000 yards as a sophomore and Jared Smart returns after a 1,000-yard receiving season. Todd Graham should have no problem generating a potent offense with Chevan Cordeiro at quarterback.

The defense, however, will be an issue. If this side of the ball doesn’t improve from its 96th national ranking a year ago, we may be looking at a bowl-less 2020 season.