The Colorado Buffaloes still had ambitions of competing in the Big 12 title as the regular season came to a close.
Those ambitions were crushed, however, when No. 17 BYU defeated Houston 30-18. If UH had won, Colorado would have secured the tiebreaker against Iowa State, securing the Cycles’ position in the Big 12 Championship game versus Arizona State.
So it should come as no surprise that No. 23 Colorado is out for retribution when it meets BYU in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night.
And while the squad prepared for its grudge battle, Shilo Sanders, CU’s starting safety and the son of head coach Deion Sanders, delivered a clear warning to BYU about what was to come.
“Y’all got to remember this is a team that, you know, beat Houston and we couldn’t go to the [Big 12] victory, so let’s make them pay for that bro,” Sanders laughed. “Let’s show them what they missed out on in the victory.”
If Colorado had advanced to the Big 12 Championship game, it would have likely fought harder against Arizona State than Iowa State did. The Sun Devils crushed the Cyclones 45-19, outgaining them 467 yards to 341 and keeping them to 12.2 points below their season average.
If gaining revenge on BYU wasn’t enough motivation for Colorado, Saturday marks the final college game for quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter.
Both are projected to enter the NFL next April, and the Buffaloes will most certainly want to send them go on a strong note.
If Colorado defeats BYU, it will mark the program’s second victory against a ranked opponent in Sanders’ two years as head coach. CU is just 1-6 against rated teams over the last two seasons.