As recent political events remind us, there is much more at stake in the real world than the sports world … as much as the two might spill over on each other.

It makes terminology like “must-win” and “important games” seem silly.

But, when put in the context of the rebuilding of the University of Hawaii football program, Saturday’s game at Fresno State and next week’s to close the regular season at home against UMass are of vast importance.

And that might seem kind of strange considering UH is 4-7 and the last two opponents are a combined 3-17. At first glance, it looks like three losing teams just playing out the string.

As you may have already heard, however, Hawaii can possibly play in a bowl game with a 6-7 record — without a doubt, specifically the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl.

Personally, as a traditionalist, I loathe the idea of any team even being considered for a bowl game with less than a winning record. Part of that is because I can remember when Hawaii was 9-2 in 1981 and 9-3 in 2001 and those deserving teams had no bowl to go to.

Objectively, as a realist, I understand how the entire bowl situation has changed. Apparently the market (as in sponsors willing to foot the bill) will bear so many bowl games that even teams with losing records can get into some of them. And during the holiday season, people are willing to watch just about anything called a bowl game on TV or other video devices.

There just aren’t enough winning teams to go around. When you’ve got 41 bowl games and 128 FBS teams (that “B” stands for “Bowl” in case you forgot) the math is pretty simple.

Would it be shameful for UH to accept a bowl bid with a record under .500?

No, especially when you factor in that winning the game would even the team’s record out at 7-7.

Did Greg McMackin’s first team in 2008 deserve to go to the Hawaii Bowl? Of course, it did — Hawaii went 5-3 in the WAC, including a big win on the road against the No. 22 team in the country (which happened to be Fresno State).

That team’s final record? It was 7-7 after the bowl.

In mid-November 2004 team things looked bleak for UH. That was the group that gave up an average of 58 points in four conference losses, including 70-14 at Fresno State on Nov. 12, putting UH at 4-5 overall with three regular-season games left to play — two against Big Ten teams.

That edition of the Warriors executed a U-turn and won out, finishing 8-5 with its 59-40 win over UAB in the Hawaii Bowl.

Those Hawaii teams were already established as winners, and bowl games were nothing new for most of the players. If this year’s team wins out and gets in, it will be the first bowl game for even the seniors. The last time Hawaii played in one was 2010, when current head coach Nick Rolovich was UH’s offensive coordinator.

The extra weeks of practice a bowl team gets would be invaluable for UH’s young players, and the bowl experience — even though it would be at home — would be a fitting reward for the seniors who continued to battle through four or five years of mostly futility.

“I don’t want to get ahead of things, but I would so love for those guys to have the bowl experience, with everything they’ve been through,” said UH athletic director David Matlin, whose previous job was running the Hawaii Bowl.

It would help recruiting, and it would help the program’s stability since a one-year extension would be automatically added to Rolovich’s four-year contract.

Here’s something else to consider: Would you rather have Texas San Antonio playing New Mexico or Louisiana Tech against Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl than UH in that mix? Those are the matchups ESPN projects at this point.

Some will say what we have now is symptomatic of the “everybody gets a trophy” generation, where mediocrity is celebrated. I’d say that’s a reach, and it’s more that fans can’t get enough college football, especially during the holiday season.

And if UH doesn’t shake off the big losses against San Diego State and Boise State and take care of business the last two games it won’t matter anyway.

That’s why Saturday’s game at Fresno State is an important one, even though the Warriors and Bulldogs are nowhere near the top of their conference like they were in the good old days.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529- 4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.