Utah's first Pac-12 South championship resulted in the school's first appearance in one of the top three bowl games affiliated with the conference. The Utes received an invitation to play Big Ten runner-up Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 31 in San Diego.
Ute coach Kyle Whittingham played for BYU in each of the first four Holiday Bowls in 1978-81. Whittingham coached the Utes to two wins the defunct Poinsettia Bowl, formerly run by the same group as the Holiday Bowl. Utah beat Navy in 2007 and defeated California in '09.
Ute athletic director Mark Harlan spent part of the past week trying to persuade Holiday Bowl organizers that Utah fans would respond well to the school's first appearance in the bowl, if the Utes lost to Washington in the Pac-12 championship game.