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Perception is nowhere near as important to Utah football as it once was. It's significant mostly at the highest reaches of the college game, if the Utes ever find a way to put themselves in a position to qualify for a College Football Playoff spot. Beyond that, the conference in which they play brings with it automatic competitive credibility. Win a lot of games in the Pac-12 and big respect bubbles up and showers down.

The problem with that is this: The Utes didn't win a lot of games.

They won five and lost four, which was enough to roll the ball forward. Voters in the CFP poll nodded favorably toward Utah throughout. Progress. But the Utes still finished barely over .500 in conference, landing fifth in the South. That was glossed over a bit on account of their upward move from the losing of the past.

That's why the Las Vegas Bowl is important.

There's still something at stake, still something to prove.

Not so much to anyone on the outside. To those folks, there isn't a great difference between a 9-4 season and an 8-5. Here's where it is essential: inside the program. How much ground has Utah really covered this season? And what does it mean for next year?

Beating a quality Colorado State team would blow more than good vibes the Utes' way, it would solidify in their own minds and hearts that a threshold has been crossed.

If Utah were to lose to the Rams, the damage doesn't come from getting beat by a — hold your nose high in the air, all you recently converted Pac-12 snobs — team from a substandard league, the lowly Mountain West. It's quite the opposite. It would come from a loss to another good team.

And the Utes don't want to let that happen, because it sheers away the positives gained from a rugged test of a season.

Conceding that all the games played in the Pac-12 were quality contests, and that's being generous since Colorado had a lousy record, despite making many league foes — including the Utes — work hard to beat it, Utah still had some layups. Nobody's assailing the Utes' strength of schedule here. It obviously provided plenty of worthy challenges. But there were a few easy wins, not unlike a lot of teams in a lot of conferences, who play some dogs.

This season, in building their 8-4 mark, the Utes benefited from defeating Idaho State, Fresno State, at a time when the Bulldogs were playing horribly, and … it sounds weird to say it this way … Michigan, which finished 5-7, having also lost to Rutgers and Maryland, among others. Those specific wins weren't stellar accomplishments.

Which brings us back to the Pac-12, which was a meat-grinder.

The Utes beat UCLA, Oregon State, USC, Stanford and Colorado. They lost to Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon and Arizona, getting blown out in those last two. An argument could be made, because of the close nature of a number of those games, a few of which went into overtime, that Utah's 5-4 league mark could have been 7-2. While that's true, it's just as reasonable to conclude that that 5-4 could have been 3-6 or worse.

Yeah, it wasn't and it isn't. It's 5-4, forever etched in the record books as that, regardless of what it might have been or would have been.

The hearts and minds of the Utes are a bit less rigid. Conclusions there are in a little more flux.

That's why the last game of the year, the Vegas Bowl, for the seniors, in a for-old-times'-sake sort of way, and for the underclassmen, moving forward to whatever comes next, is so essential. Beat Colorado State and re-establish that winning record against strong opponents, in true competitive matches that really reveal and reward quality. Lose it, and allow the doubts to stir.

That kind of perception is important to the people who matter most — the Utes themselves.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.