The Alamo Bowl is on Saturday, December 28, in lovely San Antonio, Texas.
It’s a clash of some of the Big 12’s best between the No. 23 Colorado Buffaloes and No. 17 BYU Cougars. The Buffs arrive at Saturday’s matchup with a 9-3 record after winning five of their last six games, including a 52-0 rout of Oklahoma State. BYU enters the weekend’s game with a 10-2 record, including an impressive nine-game winning streak earlier this season.
So, what’s really at stake in Saturday’s head-to-head?
For the Buffs, it’s a chance to reach 10 wins for the first time since 2016 and to win a bowl game for the first time since 2004.
It’s also the last time fans will see quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman trophy winner and two-way standout Travis Hunter in a Colorado uniform. Sanders and Hunter were a huge reason the Buffs more than doubled the team’s win total under Deion Sanders in just his second season and why Colorado led the Big 12 in passing with over 327 yards per matchup.
For BYU, beating Colorado would give the program its 11th season with 13 wins or more. It would also likely hand BYU its 20th season as a ranked team in the end-of-season AP Poll and the third time under head coach Kalani Sitake.
There are also two more names to watch: quarterback Jake Retzlaff and receiver Chase Roberts. The pair helped BYU score 30 or more points against six Big 12 opponents this year, typically averaging 30.7 points in conference matchups.