#810 ASA PLAY ON New Mexico State pick-em -125 over Western Kentucky, Thursday at 9 PM ET - This is an interesting line to say the least. It opened with NMSU as a pick-em at home despite the fact that WKY has won 9 of their last 10 games and New Mexico State has a losing record and they’ve won only 4 of their last 12. Looks pretty easy to take the Hilltoppers here based on that but there is a reason this game is near a pick-em rather than WKY favored. We wouldn’t be at all surprised if New Mexico State goes off as the favorite here. The Aggies have played the much tougher schedule thus far (45th SOS compared to WKY 232nd SOS) and they’ve been very tough at home going 7-1 SU this year. Their only loss at home was by 1 point to a very good New Mexico team who is currently ranked 32nd in KenPom rankings. They’ve already faced 4 top 100 teams and 7 teams ranked in the top 150. Western Kentucky, on the other hand, has faced 1 team this entire season that is currently ranked in the top 140. NMSU new head coach Hooten, who came over after a very successful 13 year run at Sam Houston State, took some time to get this team acclimated and playing the type of basketball he wants. They struggled big time early in the season but they’ve now won 2 of their last 3 games and even in their losses they’ve been competitive with 3 of their last 4 setbacks coming by 6 points or less. NMSU has played 8 home games this year and their average winning margin is 75-58. With the Aggies joining CUSA this year after being in the WAC last season, this is the first time WKY has had to make the long 1,500 mile trek from Bowling Green KY to Las Cruces NM. There is a reason the 7-10 team is favored (or close to pick-em) over the team that has a 13-4 record. Take New Mexico State here.