For teams preparing for bowl games, the outcomes leave lasting impressions and can either serve as building blocks for programs on the rise or for those programs established, it is a continuation of what is expected.
If USC can defeat Virginia in the Belk Bowl, it would give the Gamecocks an 8-5 record which looks much better than a 7-6 ledger.
USC head coach Will Muschamp, speaking at Thursday's joint news conference in Charlotte with Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall, says closing the books on a season is always better when you win the last game.
"As much as anything, you'd like to go out with a win," Muschamp said.
"Your lasting memory of your last football game, you want to be in a situation where a victorious locker room's a lot better than the other. That as much as anything for the young players to understand this is the last time that these young men will have an opportunity to wear a Gamecock uniform. It's important to send them out the right way."