Let’s say we lose to Utah and Washington but beat everyone else. If our ranking is in the 20-25 range that means USC and Tennessee were awful; Boise had a rare sub 10 win season; and Toledo, USU,SDSU took a step back.
It would feel like 2011.
Beating Utah is a meaningful win. In this scenario we end up in the same bowl game (we would have no chance as an at large team for a NY6 game being ranked in the 20-25 range.) So give me the 7-5 and win over Utah if I had a choice.
If we were 10-2 ranked in the 10-15 range, I would gladly lose the first 2 games going on a 11 game winning streak (including the bowl game) with wins over a nationally ranked USC, Washington and Boise poised to have our first top 10 finish in nearly a quarter of a century.