As expected, BYU didn’t hear its name called during Sunday morning’s College Football Playoff selection show.
Instead, BYU will end up in the Alamo Bowl against fellow Big 12 foe Colorado, the bowl officially announced Sunday.
When is the Alamo Bowl being played?
The Alamo Bowl will take place Dec. 28 at 5:30 p.m. MST at the Alamodone in San Antonio.
Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.
The game will be televised on ABC.
How did BYU and Colorado get selected for the Alamo Bowl?
The Cougars (10-2) and Buffaloes (9-3) tied with College Football Playoff-bound Arizona State, along with Iowa State, in the final Big 12 standings.
All went 7-2 in league play, but the Sun Devils and Cyclones played in the Big 12 championship over BYU and Colorado due to Big 12 tiebreaking procedures.
Even though they’re in the same league now, BYU and Colorado will meet in the bowl season due to conference realignment. With the Pac-12 dropping from 12 teams last year to two this season, the league worked with the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC to retain its bowl agreements for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and Colorado will fill the Pac-12′s spot in the bowl matchup in the Alamodome.
The Cougars will fill the Big 12 spot.
How do BYU and Colorado match up?
The game will feature two teams that finished in the top 25 in the final College Football Playoff rankings — BYU is No. 17, while Colorado came in at No. 23.
The Cougars started the year 9-0, with wins over SMU, Kansas State and Utah among the highlights, before losing two straight — at home against Kansas and at Arizona State — and finishing up the regular season with a home win over Houston.
The Buffaloes routed Oklahoma State in their regular-season finale, but like BYU, Colorado’s Big 12 hopes were undone by a loss to Kansas on Nov. 23.
Prior to that, the Buffaloes had won seven of their previous eight games.
The most interesting storylines around this matchup revolve around the star power at Colorado, from Deion Sanders at head coach to projected high NFL draft picks in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter.
For the Cougars, the big question will be whether or not their offense can get back on track under quarterback Jake Retzlaff, as struggles on that side of the ball proved costly in their two losses.
What is BYU’s bowl history?
The Cougars return to the postseason after missing out last year.
BYU is 4-2 in bowl games under head coach Kalani Sitake and 17-22-1 overall in bowl appearances, including a 20-17 win over Colorado in the 1988 Freedom Bowl.
This is BYU’s first appearance in the Alamo Bowl.
What is Colorado’s bowl history?
The Buffaloes have an all-time bowl record of 12-17.
This is Colorado’s third bowl appearance in the past 17 years. The other two also came in the Alamo Bowl, as the Buffaloes lost in San Antonio in lopsided games in 2016 and 2020.
Colorado is 0-3 all-time in the Alamo Bowl, having also lost an overtime contest to Wisconsin in 2002.
