Remember the transitivity theory in math class many years ago?

Basically, it stated that if A was greater than B, and B was greater than C, than A was greater than C.

Let’s use that theory to show how the University of New Mexico football team could beat either of the teams playing in the BCS championship game, the Fiesta Bowl, on Jan. 8. That game, if you haven’t heard, pits Louisiana State against Ohio State for the national championship. Here’s how it works:

LSU lost to Kentucky, 43-37 in 3 OTs. Kentucky was beaten by Tennessee, 52-50. Tennessee lost to Cal, 45-31. Cal lost to UCLA, 30-21. Arizona beat UCLA, 34-27. And the Lobos not only beat Arizona, 29-27, they did it in Tucson.

Ohio State lost to Illinois, 28-21. Illinois lost to Michigan, 27-17. Michigan lost to Oregon, 39-7. Oregon lost to Arizona, 34-24. And the Lobos beat Arizona — I already mentioned that.

The Lobos’ road to the national championship went through Tucson.

Of course, UNM (8-4) doesn’t get a shot to play for a national championship.

The Lobos do, however, get a bowl game, the (University of) New Mexico Bowl, which they played in and lost to San Jose State last December.

This time, the team from the Western Athletic Conference is the University of Nevada (6-6). Kickoff in the second annual New Mexico Bowl is at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 22.

The Lobos are a three-point favorite. UNM is the 60th-ranked team, going by Jeff Sagarin’s ratings, with a score of 71.83. Nevada, at 96, has a rating of 63.37. Using the Sagarin ratings, which entails adding 2.59 points to the home team, UNM is an 11-point favorite.

The Lobos and Wolfpack — how’s that for irony? — have two common foes, New Mexico State and Nevada-Las Vegas.

UNM beat the Aggies 44-34 and beat the Rebels 27-6. Nevada beat the Aggies 40-38 — the ‘Pack is 10-1 all-time against NMSU — and UNLV, its in-state rival, 27-20.

Nevada has two two-point losses to pretty good teams, 69-67 in four overtimes at Boise State and 28-26 to undefeated WAC champ Hawaii.

The Lobos can’t claim anything as significant on their slate, with a 10-6 loss at UTEP (4-8), which ended the season on a six-game slide, and a devastating 37-0 loss at TCU, which ended a three-game winning streak and put an end to the Lobos’ chances of finishing second in the MWC.

The Lobos have played well at home, where they were 5-1 and beaten only by league champ Brigham Young, 31-24.

Both teams feature sopho-more quarterbacks, Donovan Porterie at UNM and Nick Graziano for the Wolfpack. Each team is coached by an alumnus who once played QB for his team, Chris Ault at Nevada and Rocky Long with the Lobos.

Nevada ended its 2006 season with a respectable 21-20 to Miami in the MPC Computers Bowl.

The Lobos have been in 10 bowl games; here’s a look at UNM’s bowl history:

1939: Sun Bowl/El Paso

Utah 26, Lobos 0

1944 Sun Bowl/El Paso

Southwestern 7, Lobos 0

1946 Sun Bowl/El Paso

Lobos 34, Denver 24

1947 Harbor Bowl/San Diego

Lobos 13, Montana State 13

1961 Aviation Bowl/Dayton, Ohio

Lobos 28, Western Michigan 12

1997 Insight.com Bowl/Tucson

Arizona 20, Lobos 14

2002 Las Vegas Bowl

UCLA 27, Lobos 13

2003 Las Vegas Bowl

Oregon State 55, Lobos 14

2004 Emerald Bowl/San Francisco

Navy 34, Lobos 19

2006 New Mexico Bowl

San Jose State 20, Lobos 12