How Alamo Bowl Teams Have Fared

Rarely do teams from the same conference cross paths in bowl games. In the fairly recent past, such an occurrence has even caused a mini scandal.

However, 2024 is an unprecedented season in so many respects. College football leagues are so big that such a development is no longer verboten, and thus Big 12 foes Colorado and BYU will meet in the Alamo Bowl Saturday for the first time since the 1988 Freedom Bowl.

That’s not to say the game won’t be a compelling one, though—the Buffaloes and Cougars aren’t that far apart (an eight-hour drive), and Colorado has two top-10 Heisman finishers in cornerback Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

As the anticipation builds, here’s a look back at the Buffaloes’ and BYU’s respective postseason histories, with a spotlight on a few notable matchups.

A word to describe Colorado’s postseason life would be “streaky.” The Buffaloes were late to the Big Eight and its forerunners (they didn’t join until 1948) and it took them some time to win. When they did, sustained success was difficult—Colorado went without a bowl win from 1971 to ’90 despite several quality seasons.

But what a win the Buffaloes’ ’90 victory was—a thrilling, controversial 10–9 win over Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl that secured Colorado’s share of the national championship (a Fighting Irish touchdown was negated by a clipping penalty in the final minute). The ’90s were good to the Buffaloes, who won six straight bowl games from 1993 to ’99.

Right now, Colorado is in the midst of a fallow period, having lost four consecutive postseason games. The Buffaloes’ last bowl victory came in 2004, when they rallied past a strong UTEP team 33–28 in the Houston Bowl.

The Cougars’ first bowl trip may have been to the Fiesta Bowl, but ask fans of a certain age and they’ll tie BYU forever to one game: the Holiday Bowl.

A 20-year association between the WAC and the game enabled the Cougars to practically establish permanent residency in San Diego. BYU played classic after classic in the game: a thrilling loss to Indiana in 1979, a miracle comeback against SMU in 1980, a clutch victory over Missouri in 1983, and a 1984 win over Michigan that all but locked up the Cougars’ only national championship. The program has played in the game 11 times—six more than any other team.

BYU has meandered bowl-wise since its exit from the WAC. The Cougars became a Las Vegas Bowl frequent flier in the 2000s, playing in that bowl game five straight years against a quintet of Pac-10 teams. BYU returned to the game in 2015, falling 35–28 to Utah in the era when the two rivals were in different conferences. The Cougars’ last bowl win came in 2022, when they downed the Mustangs 24–23 in the New Mexico Bowl.

Here’s how the two teams’ bowl records compare.

Both programs have had to weather lengthy bowl losing streaks at various points, and will look to add a feather in their caps Saturday in which should be an entertaining affair.