The 2024 Valero Alamo Bowl will be the only postseason game in college football to feature two teams from the same conference facing off against one another. Due to the near-dissolution of the Pac-12 in 2023, teams that departed the conference kept their bowl affiliation through legacy status.
Therefore, No. 23 Colorado will represent the Pac-12 in San Antonio against No. 17 BYU, who will represent the Big 12 despite both residing in the same competitive home this season.
Both teams finished third and fourth behind No. 18 Iowa State and No. 12 Arizona State, who competed for the conference title in Dallas on Dec. 7 with the Sun Devils emerging victorious and qualifying for the College Football Playoff.
But if you ask BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, the self-proclaimed “B-Y-Jew,” the Big 12 Championship Game hasn’t happened yet. In fact, he’s of the opinion the Alamo Bowl will determine the true conference champion.
“I think it’s the people’s Big 12 Championship, personally,” Retzlaff told reporters Thursday at a pre-game news conference.
BYU’s Jake Retzlaff has no clue how conference standings work
If the people want the Big 12 Champion to be a losing team, then the Alamo Bowl is the perfect arena to decide that title. Both BYU and Colorado lost crucial games in the final weeks of the regular season which cost them spots in the conference championship game.
Ironically, BYU lost to eventual champs Arizona State 28-23 on Nov. 23 in a wild yet failed comeback attempt in the final seconds.Arizona State and Iowa State finished first and second, respectively, on merit – specifically record and tie-breakers known to all teams at the beginning of the season.
Retzlaff has no case to claim BYU and Colorado are fighting for the Big 12 title and even if he’s joking, it’s not a great look. His thoughts should be on the matchup, not sour grapes.
If he wanted to be playing title-caliber football in December, Retzlaff and BYU shouldn’t have lost two of their final three games when most believed they were locked into the inaugural 12-team bracket. It’s simple, they blew it and now it’s time to move on and just play football.
Leave a Reply