On Saturday, December 28th, the BYU Cougars take on the Colorado Buffaloes in the Valero Alamo Bowl. This is one of eight games on the schedule for the day, and this really should be a fun one. With that in mind, keep reading for odds, analysis and predictions for this showdown. But make sure you also check out our College Football Bowl Games Hub for all of our VSiN college football betting content.
Valero Alamo Bowl: BYU Cougars vs. Colorado Buffaloes
How To Watch BYU vs. Colorado
Where: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
When: 7:30 pm ET on Saturday, December 28th
Channel: ABC
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BYU vs. Colorado Odds
Moneyline: Colorado -205, BYU +170
Spread: Colorado -3.5 (-112), BYU +3.5 (-108)
Total: Over 54.5 (-112), Under 54.5 (-108)
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publish. They can change. And shop around for the best prices!
BYU vs. Colorado Prediction
Colorado will seemingly have most of its NFL-caliber players out there for this game. Deion Sanders has noted that his stars will play with insurance policies, so the only key absence in this game will be linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green. He’s transferring to play for Alabama next season. The Buffaloes also have some guys banged up, but you should be treating them like the team they were all year. The same really goes for the Cougars, who will be without transfer Crew Wakley and also have some players injured. But as far as bowl games in 2024 go, both of these teams are in good shape. That makes this one of the more intriguing matchups of bowl season, especially with it being a Big 12 battle.
Assuming the Buffaloes don’t pull their starters at some point, there’s some value in playing Colorado. The Buffs really narrowed the defensive gap between these teams as the season went along. By the end of the regular season, BYU was 21st in EPA per play allowed (-0.067) and Colorado was 25th (-0.065). But Colorado has the edge on offense, as the team is 29th in EPA per play (0.058) and BYU is 34th (0.049). That’s not a huge gap either, but the Buffs also averaged 34.5 points per game this year. The Cougars scored just 30.8. And overall, Shedeur Sanders gives Colorado a much better chance of scoring than Jake Retzlaff does. Sometimes it’s that simple.
The Buffaloes were also 7-1 against the spread in the games they played against common opponents, and the Cougars were 4-4 ATS in those games. BYU also happens to be just 1-3 straight-up and 2-2 ATS as a neutral field underdog under Kalani Sitake. Meanwhile, Colorado is 3-0 both SU and ATS as a favorite of 3.5 to 10 points under Coach Prime. The Buffs are also 10-1 ATS in the 11 games they have played against teams with winning records with Sanders on the sidelines.
I just trust Colorado to win in the final game we’ll see out of Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, but I’m not going to risk much on it because it’s hard to fully trust the work load we’ll see out of both.
It also might be worth going Over on this game, as the Over was a combined 15-8-1 in the games these teams played this season. BYU also went 7-2 to the Over in conference games, and Colorado went 5-3-1 in Big 12 games. Also, the matchup does call for some points. This Colorado team can score against anybody, and BYU won’t be shut down completely by this Buffs defense. This should be a bit of a shootout, and it’s one in which I’m trusting the Buffaloes to emerge victorious. But I can’t blame anybody that doesn’t want to choose a side.
Pick: Colorado -3.5 (+102)
