Respect between BYU's Sitake, Colorado's Prime for competitive Alamo Bowl few saw coming

SAN ANTONIO — Two coaches of schools that haven't met since the 1988 Freedom Bowl became fast friends by Friday morning, and BYU's Kalani Sitake and Colorado's Deion Sanders aren't afraid to embrace it.

Except for about four hours on Saturday afternoon.

That's when the No. 17 Cougars and 23rd-ranked Buffaloes will face off in the Alamo Bowl (5:30 p.m. MST, ABC), considered by many to be among the best non-College Football Playoff bowl games of the 2024 season.

But before getting there, the man known as "Coach Prime" made sure to reference how much respect he has for Sitake — and vice versa.

The respect was evident Wednesday, when the two teams and their families took to SeaWorld San Antonio as part of the bowl-week celebrations. Sanders saw a group of BYU players waiting in line to get on one of the roller coasters — a coaster he joked he had to be dragged on by one of his players — and he quickly motioned to the group.

"I told a couple of the big boys, c'mon, man; we family," Sanders recalled during Friday's pre-bowl press conference with both coaches. "You know why I did that? Because of the love I have for this man, for the support and compassion that he exuded to me. His kids are family.

"Any time I saw them in the park, I embraced them as well. And I think they enjoyed skipping the line, as well."

Sanders joked, and Sitake laughed before adding: "They tried to follow you around a little bit more."

Two Big 12 Conference opponents will face off Saturday evening in a primetime showcase, the product of massive conference realignment as Colorado (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) took the spot owed to legacy Pac-12 institutions in the final two years of the bowl's contract.

But Sitake and BYU (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) couldn't be happier than to face a top-25 program that tied atop the league with the Cougars with championship contenders in No. 12 Arizona State and No. 18 Iowa State.

"There's tons of respect we have for Colorado and what they've been able to accomplish," Sitake said of the Buffaloes, who are led by top passing quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy-winning two-way player Travis Hunter. "I'm really looking forward to this matchup, more than anything."

With respect to the Sun Devils, who will open the CFP in the Peach Bowl against No. 3 Texas next week, and the Pop Tarts Bowl-bound Cyclones, neither the Cougars nor the Buffaloes were expected to be standing on the primetime stage at the Alamodome this weekend.

The Cougars were picked to finish No. 13 in the league's preseason media poll — two spots behind Colorado — in a parity-driven conference that saw each of Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona receive at least three first-place votes.

But parity has been the name of the Big 12 all season, as evidenced by the two league foes in the unofficial Big 12 third-place game and an Arizona State champion picked to finish dead-last in the 16-team league.

"I can only speak for the games that we played in, but they're highly competitive and a lot of parity. You look at the predictions, and none of it came true," Sitake said. "Anybody has a shot in this conference."

Sitake complimented the talent of players like Hunter and the attention to detail and football IQ of Shedeur Sanders, the projected first-round NFL draft pick with 3,926 passing yards and 25 touchdowns with just eight interceptions in his senior year.

Coach Prime, likewise, complimented BYU's players, including a secondary that leads the nation with 12 players with an interception for 20 total takeaways. That chess match between Colorado's downfield passing threat and BYU's secondary will be key to watch Saturday afternoon.

"They've got some tremendous players," Sanders said. "They're not going to make mistakes; we have to beat them."

All of them led by a former BYU fullback who has quickly fallen into the good graces of the legendary NFL cornerback and return specialist once coached by BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe.

"I'm truly excited. I love this man, not just as a coach but as a man," Sanders said of Sitake. "People have validated to me who he is.

"His shoe game is on point today, as well ... He won the dress-up match today. He got me, and I'm not happy about that."

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