The Alamo Bowl inviting BYU and Colorado to do battle in a matchup of two teams excluded from the Big 12 Championship Game is cinema. Matchup-wise, you have two high-powered offenses, led by star quarterbacks Jake Retzlaff and Shedeur Sanders, and fast and physical defenses.
There's also two head coaches in it who'll be running the Big 12 for a long time: Deion Sanders and Kalani Sitake.
Coach Prime turned a 1-11 program into a 9-3 conference contender in two years. He's already being tabbed for a contract extension, which is just putting pen to paper on the unspoken lifelong commitment Colorado now has to their coaching savior.
Sataki, meanwhile, already has ink drying on his extension.
“I am grateful for the continued confidence and support I receive in my role leading the BYU football program from President Shane Reese, Vice President Keith Vorkink, Athletic Director Tom Holmoe and Deputy AD Brian Santiago,” said Sitake of the extension. “I have said this many times, but before I became the coach at BYU, I was first a Cougar fan and then a player here. We have the best fans in the world. I remain humbled to be the head coach at this great university and believe in its mission. I love the outstanding young men, coaches and staff we have in our program, and I’m excited about the opportunities we have ahead competing in the Big 12 Conference.”
Sitake has had an up-and-down run in Provo since taking the reins in 2016, but 2024 solidified the Cougars as a team its boosters and donors will invest in. This was the most important year to make an impression, with conferences expanding and NIL becoming a pay-to-play venture for most schools, and Sitake did just that.
December 28 will be a movie; a prequel to two Big 12 coaches running the conference for a long time, with Kenny Dillingham leading the charge at ASU if he isn't hired elsewhere this offseason.