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The fate of dozens of teams around the country rests on what a group of 12 people decide in a hotel room in Texas.
While the Utes are well out of the running for the College Football Playoff, the committee's decision on which four teams will be in the field will have a ripple effect, particularly in the Pac-12.
As long as Washington (12-1) remains in the four-team bracket when it is announced at 10:30 a.m. MST Sunday on ESPN, Utah is the expected Pac-12 team in the Foster Farms Bowl. The Utes would face a Big Ten team— likely Indiana or Minnesota — at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Dec. 28.
If the committee stuns the West and leaves the Huskies, the 41-10 winners of the Pac-12 championship over Colorado, in the cold, Utah's bowl destination would be up in the air. Reports late Saturday have Houston accepting a bid to the Las Vegas Bowl, scratching that from the list of potential destinations.
As for Washington, coach Chris Petersen thinks his case was made by becoming the first Huskies team to reach 12 wins since the 1991 national championship squad. The team beat opponents by an average of 27.3 points.
"We think we have a heck of a team and we think we belong in there," he said in post-game comments. "I think [the committee will] do what they should do, which is the right thing."
The Utes are also backing the Pac-12, with the expectation that they can get a change of pace from Vegas. Washington playing in the playoff would elevated Colorado or USC to the Rose Bowl, send the other to the Alamo Bowl, and put Washington State in the Holiday Bowl.
While Utah (8-4, 5-4) would theoretically be behind Stanford (9-3, 6-3) in the pecking order, bowls can pick teams out of order as long as they're only one game back. As long as the Holiday Bowl selects Wazzu, the Foster Farms Bowl is believed to favor Utah, which last played the game in 2005 (a 38-10 win over Georgia Tech). Utah also represented well in games in the Bay Area this year: Both San Jose State's and Cal's stadiums saw huge swaths of red in their crowds.
Stanford seems to not benefit from being the hometown team for the bowl game, which it last played in 2014. It hurts the Cardinal that home attendance dwindled toward the end of the season: On average, the Cardinal beat out only Oregon State and Washington State (which both have smaller stadiums) for home attendance, and late-season games showed rows and rows of empty seats.
Utah athletic director Chris Hill told The Tribune last week that he has been talking to most of the Pac-12 affiliated bowls and that the Foster Farms Bowl has taken a significant interest.
Twitter: @kylegoon Pac-12 bowl pecking order
With 12-1 Washington in line for a College Football Playoff Berth, several other Pac-12 teams could be bumped up for bowls â€" a good thing for Utah, since only six Pac-12 teams are bowl eligible. Here's how the order goes:
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif, Jan. 1 (vs. Big Ten No. 1)
Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, Texas, Dec. 29 (vs. Big 12 No. 2)
Holiday Bowl, San Diego, Calif., Dec. 27 (vs. Big Ten Tier 1)
Foster Farms Bowl, Santa Clara, Calif, Dec. 28 (vs. Big Ten Tier 2)
Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas, Dec. 30 (vs. ACC Tier 1)
Las Vegas Bowl, Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 17 (vs. Mountain West No. 1)
Here's the Pac-12's bowl-eligible teams and where they stand in conference records. Note that bowls can select a team below the next-highest ranked team as long as the programs are no more than game apart in the standings. If the Huskies go to the playoff, the Rose Bowl will take the next-highest team in the CFP rankings.
Washington (8-1) *Pac-12 champion
Colorado (8-1)
USC (7-2)
Washington State (7-2)
Stanford (6-3)
Utah (5-4)