Utah reminded of underdog status in Sugar Bowl

"It's a national perception and that's what we're here to change, hopefully," Johnson said. "That's just a stigma that goes along with the territory. We're down here in SEC country, so I mean, I'm sure a lot of people aren't interested in what the University of Utah's doing in September, October and November. So it's a situation where we've got to go out and control what we can control and hopefully everybody will know what conference we're in after this game."

Alabama has been to 12 previous Sugar Bowls, winning eight. This is Utah's first Sugar Bowl, but not its first BCS bowl. The Alex Smith-led Utes soundly beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl following the 2003 season. Johnson even got a few snaps at the end of that game because it was so well in hand.

However, Pitt, winner of the Big East that season, was widely considered the weakest of BCS conference champs. That left Utah still looking for a measure of respect.

"For some reason, people think that there are no good players in non-BCS schools," Utah cornerback Sean Smith said. "We have guys that run 4.2s and have 40-inch verticals like everybody else. We have great athletes, and most important of all, we've got good coaches who do a great job of making sure that we're prepared for every game."

Of course, it would be hard for anyone to discount a victory over Alabama (12-1), which spent more than a month at No. 1 and didn't lose until it played Florida in the SEC championship.

"Without question this is the best opponent and the best matchup that Utah's had in over 100 years of college football," Johnson said. "This is everything you dream for. Everything is right there in front of you for a chance to put yourself in the history books."