Colorado and BYU Bowl Records & History: How Alamo Bowl Teams Have Fared

The Buffaloes and Cougars have actually crossed paths in the postseason.

Shedeur Sanders during No. 23 Colorado's 52–0 win over Oklahoma State on Nov. 29, 2024. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

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.

Colorado Bowl History: How the Buffaloes Have Fared

SEASON	BOWL	OPPONENT	RESULT
1937	Cotton	Rice	L 28–14
1956	Orange	Clemson	W 27–21
1961	Orange	LSU	L 25–7
1967	Bluebonnet	Miami	W 31–21
1969	Liberty	Alabama	W 47–33
1970	Liberty	Tulane	L 17–3
1971	Bluebonnet	Houston	W 29–17
1972	Gator	Auburn	L 24–3
1975	Bluebonnet	Texas	L 38–21
1976	Orange	Ohio State	L 27–10
1985	Freedom	Washington	L 20–17
1986	Bluebonnet	Baylor	L 21–9
1988	Freedom	BYU	L 20–17
1989	Orange	Notre Dame	L 21–6
1990	Orange	Notre Dame	W 10–9
1991	Blockbuster	Alabama	L 30–25
1992	Fiesta	Syracuse	L 26–22
1993	Aloha	Fresno State	W 41–30
1994	Fiesta	Notre Dame	W 41–24
1995	Cotton	Oregon	W 38–6
1996	Holiday	Washington	W 33–21
1998	Aloha	Oregon	W 51–43
1999	Insight	Boston College	W 62–28
2001	Fiesta	Oregon	L 38–16
2002	Alamo	Wisconsin	L 31–28
2004	Houston	UTEP	W 33–28
2005	Champs Sports	Clemson	L 19–10
2007	Independence	Alabama	L 30–24
2016	Alamo	Oklahoma State	L 38–8
2020	Alamo	Texas	L 55–23
2024	Alamo	BYU	TBD

Notes on Colorado's Bowl History

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.

BYU Bowl History: How the Cougars Have Fared

SEASON	BOWL	OPPONENT	RESULT
1974	Fiesta	Oklahoma State	L 16–6
1976	Tangerine	Oklahoma State	L 49–21
1978	Holiday	Navy	L 23–16
1979	Holiday	Indiana	L 38–37
1980	Holiday	SMU	W 46–45
1981	Holiday	Washington State	W 38–36
1982	Holiday	Ohio State	L 47–17
1983	Holiday	Missouri	W 21–17
1984	Holiday	Michigan	W 24–17
1985	Citrus	Ohio State	L 10–7
1986	Freedom	UCLA	L 31–10
1987	All-American	Virginia	L 22–16
1988	Freedom	Colorado	W 20–17
1989	Holiday	Penn State	L 50–39
1990	Holiday	Texas A&M	L 65–14
1991	Holiday	Iowa	T 13–13
1992	Aloha	Kansas	L 23–20
1993	Holiday	Ohio State	L 28–21
1994	Copper	Oklahoma	W 31–6
1996	Cotton	Kansas State	W 19–15
1998	Liberty	Tulane	L 41–27
1999	Motor City	Marshall	L 21–3
2001	Liberty	Louisville	L 28–10
2005	Las Vegas	California	L 35–28
2006	Las Vegas	Oregon	W 38–8
2007	Las Vegas	UCLA	W 17–16
2008	Las Vegas	Arizona	L 31–21
2009	Las Vegas	Oregon State	W 44–20
2010	New Mexico	UTEP	W 52–24
2011	Armed Forces	Tulsa	W 24–21
2012	Poinsettia	San Diego State	W 23–6
2013	Fight Hunger	Washington	L 31–16
2014	Miami Beach	Memphis	L 55–48
2015	Las Vegas	Utah	L 35–28
2016	Poinsettia	Wyoming	W 24–21
2018	Potato	Western Michigan	W 49–18
2019	Hawaii	Hawaii	L 38–34
2020	Boca Raton	UCF	W 49–23
2021	Independence	UAB	L 31–28
2022	New Mexico	SMU	W 24–23
2024	Alamo	Colorado	TBD

Notes on BYU's Bowl History

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.

Colorado, BYU Records in Bowl Games

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

TEAMS	WINS	LOSSES	TIES	WINNING PERCENTAGE
Colorado	12	18	0	.400
BYU	17	22	1	.438

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.

---

More of the Latest Around College Football

feed