Coach Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes have been selected to face BYU in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio Dec. 28, creating an all-Big 12 Conference matchup between two Rocky Mountain teams that haven’t played each other in 36 years.
The matchup became official Sunday after the College Football Playoff made its selections, leaving the Alamo Bowl to pick which remaining teams it wanted from the Big 12 and former Pac-12 conferences. The Alamo Bowl then took the Buffs (9-3) with the first pick of eligible teams from the former Pac-12.
They will play a prime-time game against the Cougars (10-2), the first non-playoff team taken from the Big 12. Both teams were part of a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 this year but haven’t played each other since the Freedom Bowl in 1988, when BYU won 20-17, despite two touchdowns from Colorado running back Eric Bieniemy.
Why is Colorado playing a Big 12 team in the Alamo Bowl?
Several bowl games still have contracts with the Pac-12 to select teams from that league even though the conference collapsed this year and only has two current members. Colorado rejoined the Big 12 this year and was one of 10 teams that left the Pac-12 for other conferences.
Instead of redoing the contracts to reflect conference realignment, the Alamo Bowl still will select the first non-playoff teams from each of those two pools of candidates in 2024 and 2025.
Oregon, a former Pac-12 team, won a spot in the 12-team playoff as the Big Ten champion. So did former Pac-12 member Arizona State, which won the Big 12 championship Saturday against Iowa State.
That left Colorado as the most attractive choice among former Pac-12 teams – not just because of its record but especially because of its ability to sell tickets and attract viewers on television. The Buffs have played in front of sold-out crowds in 20 of 24 games under Sanders. They also ranked 11th nationally in average television viewership through Week 11 (3.64 million), according to CU.
The Alamo Bowl used its first pick on the Big 12 side to select BYU over Iowa State (10-3), which was coming off a 45-19 loss in the Big 12 championship game Saturday.
Arizona State, Iowa State, BYU and Colorado all tied for first place in the Big 12 with 7-2 league records. But league tiebreakers determined Arizona State and Iowa State would play for the Big 12 championship Saturday, not BYU or Colorado.
Will Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders play in the bowl game?
Yes, according to Deion Sanders. Both are expected to be top picks in the NFL draft in April. Playing in a non-playoff bowl game like this could risk an injury that would damage their draft stock and earnings potential. That’s why many college players opt out of playing in games like these.
But Sanders is not having that.
“Our kids are gonna play in our bowl game, because that’s what we signed up to do and we’re gonna finish,” Sanders said after his team beat Oklahoma State in its regular-season finale.
Having both players play will be a viewership boon for the Alamo Bowl, which will be televised by ABC at 7:30 p.m. ET on a Saturday night. Hunter, the cornerback-receiver, is the leading candidate to win the Heisman Trophy on Dec. 14. Shedeur Sanders also is a possible Heisman finalist and has already won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation’s top quarterback. He will face a BYU team that is tied for No. 1 nationally with 20 interceptions.
What is the Alamo Bowl payout?
It’s $9.8 million combined, but since both of these teams are from the Big 12, that money would all go to the Big 12. That and other money from postseason games is later distributed to league members through revenue sharing.
Buffaloes have been here before
The Buffs’ last two bowl games were in the Alamo Bowl – 2016 and 2020. Both were blowout losses to Big 12 teams. Some Colorado fans might not be thrilled to be returning to San Antonio for that reason and might not have minded dropping to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego instead – which has the next pick among former Pac-12 teams.
“That is something to consider but in 2020 our attendance was capped at 11,000 so very few fans made that trip,” Alamo Bowl Vice President Rick Hill told USA TODAY Sports. “Plus, we think our Saturday, December 28 at 6:30 p.m. (Central time) kickoff is ideal for travel and both teams will appreciate the opportunity to play in front of 60,000+ fans on ABC in the conference’s top non-CFP bowl.”
This will be the first major college bowl game for Sanders as coach after the Buffs finished 4-8 last year in his first season. The Buffs finished 23rd in the playoff rankings announced Sunday. BYU finished 17th, ahead of Iowa State at 18th. Big 12 champion Arizona State finished 12th.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com