You wake up this morning. You look in the mirror.

You are Tony Dungy.

America is watching. What do you "do"?

You're conservative by nature and, to some folks' way of thinking, a real loser when it comes to the NFL postseason. Destiny is giving you the eye, beckoning with an enticing index finger to come and play. Your undefeated, barely challenged 13-0 Indianapolis Colts are the story of the 2005 season. Your team is on the cusp of history.

Best of all, you could be the Don Shula of the new millennium. All your team has to do is win three more games and complete an improbable 16-0 regular season.

What to do? Pull in your horn if you're the unicorn-like Colts during this magical season or gallop ahead in a down-the-stretch-they-come sprint for posterity?

Well, here's my idea for a perfect season: Win the Super Bowl. Nothing else matters. Sure, it's fine to have a sense of history, but it's better to wear a championship ring for the rest of your life.

The Colts took a major step toward both yesterday when they de-clawed their AFC South nemesis, the Jacksonville Jaguars, 26-18, to clinch their third consecutive division title. While Indianapolis' offense wasn't as efficient as it has been — four field goals is ample evidence of that — the game really wasn't as close as the score seems to suggest.

Jacksonville was supposed to be another one of those slippery-slope affairs that the Colts conceivably could lose. In September the Jaguars shut out Indy for three quarters before losing. But the Colts did to them what they have done to other perceived threats this season, including New England and Pittsburgh.

For months, Dungy's laser focus has been to capture the division with the AFC's best record, thereby ensuring a first-round bye and home-field advantage. The Colts have the best record in the NFL since 1999 (88-33) but little else to show for it than playoff frustration.

Now that Indianapolis is the top seed, it's dome, sweet dome for the playoffs. Playing in the climate-controlled, fast-track, decibel-deafening RCA Dome is a huge plus for Indianapolis.

Over the next few days, and perhaps weeks, Dungy is going to receive a lot of unsolicited, well-intentioned advice. He should ignore most, if not all, of it.

Dungy needs to heed his inner voice and forget what the rest of us might want. Our opinions don't matter. Neither do those of analysts and former coaches. Included in that assessment is the redoubtable, chisel-jawed Shula, whose 1972 Miami Dolphins finished 17-0, including the playoffs. Shula is on record as saying Dungy will "do the right thing" and not back off.

I think Dungy already has a plan, and I'm sure it's a prudent one along these lines: Start games with front-line players and pull them when prudent. Keep the Colts in proper condition, but don't expose them to any unnecessary risks. It's really that simple.

Of course, there are no perfect answers in the search for a perfect season. There are legitimate issues of possible staleness and momentum loss. Whatever decisions Dungy makes will be second-guessed, third-guessed and fourth-guessed by every armchair quarterback in the nation.

Records are nice, yes, but they can be broken or equaled. Coaches don't spend hundreds of hours planning and preparing for a season with the goal of being undefeated after 16 regular-season games. Why? Because it is almost impossible, which is what makes the Colts' run so compelling, but meaningless (remember those 1998 Denver Broncos who started out 13-0, lost two of their next three and won it all).

That's why nothing else really matters for Dungy, in his 26th season as an NFL assistant or head coach and making his maiden debut as a No. 1 seed. Nor should it. I suspect Dungy has grown weary of reaching the playoffs and watching the Super Bowl at home. He knows what his reputation is in the postseason, too. He is 5-7 in the playoffs, including championship game defeats in both conferences.

This season Super Bowl XL will be played in Detroit. Dungy went to high school 75 miles away in Jackson, Mich. At this point in his life, I'm sure his idea of a perfect season is a victory on the first Sunday of February.