For the BYU Cougars and their football fans, there should be plenty of reasons to remember the Alamo Bowl when they face off against fellow Big 12 foe Colorado and second-year coach Deion Sanders in one of the premier bowl games outside the College Football Playoff games and bowls in 2024-25.
Sure, it is a bit awkward having to face a conference opponent in a bowl game, but the Cougars and Buffs have yet to meet as league foes — they are scheduled to play each other next fall in Boulder — and don’t really have a recent history.
It’s not like in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl, when longtime rivals BYU and Utah squared off and it didn’t really feel like a bowl game. The positives outweigh the negatives, from this perspective.
Sure, it would have been nice to see how these two teams, arguably the second- and third-best teams in the Big 12, fared against teams from the ACC, Big Ten or SEC. Blame conference realignment for that, as the now-defunct Pac-12 retained its bowl ties.
Obviously, the biggest question is whether Colorado’s stars — probable Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Sheuder Sanders — will play in the game. At the welcome news conference held Sunday afternoon in San Antonio, Coach Prime said in a video-taped message that everyone will play.
“We have a plethora of seniors that are pro-bound. And guess what? Every last one of them are going to play. We don’t tap out. We don’t sit out. It is a blessing to play in this wonderful game. Our kids are going to play,” Deion Sanders said.
“We got a kid who is probably — not probably, what am I talking about? — as a matter of fact is gonna pick up the Heisman Trophy this week. And he is going to play. We got another, a quarterback (Sheuder Sanders) who picked up an award last weekend, and he is going to play. We have receivers that I know are going pro, and guess what, they are going to play.”
So there’s that; Colorado is an early four-point favorite, a number that might rise a bit after Prime’s declaration. Colorado is being called a “Pac-12 legacy team” for the game and as such will be the designated home team.
“So we cannot wait to put on our best suit and our best uniform because we are the home team, and we are going to have a good time,” Deion Sanders said.
“We have a plethora of seniors that are pro-bound. And guess what? Every last one of them are going to play. We don’t tap out. We don’t sit out.”
— Colorado coach Deion Sanders
Prone to being a little bombastic, the coach also said that the schools would combine to fill the 64,000-seat domed arena.
“I hear George Strait and Texas A&M (vs. UTSA) has the record for attendance. I know we are going to break that one because I know what coach (Sitake) is going to bring to the table, and I know how deep our fans come,” Deion Sanders said. “So we are going to sell this game out expeditiously, so get ready to put a little tickets in the cut (Sanders receives), because I am going to ask you for that because I helped do that. We are going to sell this thing out and we are going to have a wonderful time. We couldn’t ask for a better opponent.”
Already, CU athletic director Rick George has thrown down the gauntlet, as it were, saying the Buffs will bring more fans than the Cougars, who are known for traveling well.
“The advantage of being in Texas is, I think it will be a home crowd for us,” George told the Boulder Daily Camera on Sunday. “I think our alumni will come out, but there’s also a lot of Cowboy fans that love Deion and they’re gonna wanna come out and see him and this team. I think it’s gonna be a great game and a great matchup.”
Sitake, meanwhile, didn’t say much about the expected makeup of the crowd, but he did attempt to win over local organizers by praising the San Antonio cuisine. He talked a lot about food in BYU’s last two bowl trips — to Shreveport in 2021 and to Albuquerque in 2022.
“For me, the destination is always about food, too. I know San Antonio can hold its own when it comes to food, so I am looking forward to gaining some weight that week,” Sitake said. “… We are looking forward to the week, the festivities, and obviously the food. Most people eat until they are full. I eat until my mouth gets tired. As you can tell, I got a pretty healthy mouth.”
Other elements that should make this a fun matchup:
• Coach Prime against one of the most-liked coaches in the business, Sitake, who just signed a lengthy contract extension on Saturday night.
“I have known Deion (for awhile) and have been able to interact with him,” Sitake said. “I am a big fan of his. It has been fun to watch him lead his team this year, and we have had some crossover games so we have been able to watch their film, and see how they perform.
“We have been really impressed by what they do on the field. I love the way he leads his team. I love the connection he has. It is a great example to me as a coach to see the way he leads, and the way he does it with his faith in Christ and in God.”
Said Sanders regarding Sitake and the Cougars: “Playing against a wonderful, storied university like BYU is unbelievable. You talk about leadership. … He talks about how much he is going to eat, but don’t get it twisted, he is a darn good football coach and he is a leader of men and he is a God-fearing man.
“So to see him and watch him and glean from him, and get the opportunity to meet him at the Big 12 meetings, and now to be able to compete against him is unbelievable and I am so thankful that you are affording me this opportunity,” Sanders continued.
• A pair of nationally ranked teams, with the Cougars at No. 17 and the Buffaloes at No. 23 in the final CFP rankings released Sunday.
“It is one of the most prestigious (bowl) games in college football. So we are looking forward to the game and the matchup, but more than anything to the connections and the friends we make and also the memories we are going to make,” Sitake said. “Regardless of the outcome of the game, we are really honored to be on that field and share it with Colorado.”
• A fabulous, post-Christmas bowl date (Dec. 28) in prime time (5:30 p.m. MST) on ABC when the entire country should be watching, if for nothing else to see Coach Prime’s program’s ascension under his watch.
“We have a collection of young men on this (CU) team that believe,” Sanders said. “It is easy to not believe in this inconsistent world that we live in, but they believe.”
• Colorado’s prolific offense — which put 49 points on Utah’s stingy defense — against BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s big-time defense. Can the Cougars slow Shedeur, Hunter and easily the best group of receivers they will face this season, if not this decade?
• Despite the disappointment of missing out on the CFP, BYU should have a reasonable number of fans in attendance, given the number of alumni in Texas and the number of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in that area.
BYU is 2-0 in bowl games in the Lone Star State, having defeated Kansas State 19-15 in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1, 1997 and Tulsa 24-21 in the 2011 Armed Forces Bowl.
It will be BYU’s 41st bowl appearance, and arguably the Cougars’ best opponent in a postseason game since the 2009 Vegas Bowl vs. No. 16 Oregon State.
Or is Colorado BYU’s best opponent since 1996 vs. No. 14 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl?
“This will be a very important part of our program and I am pretty sure Coach Prime is looking forward to the same thing,” Sitake said. “We are just really excited about all of it.”