The 2024 Alamo Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2024, at the Alamodome located in San Antonio, Texas. The 32nd annual Alamo Bowl featured the BYU Cougars and Colorado Buffaloes, both from the Big 12 Conference. The game began at approximately 6:30 p.m. CST and aired on ABC. The Alamo Bowl was one of the 2024âÂÂ25 bowl games concluding the 2024 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by Valero Energy and was officially known as the Valero Alamo Bowl.
Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured teams from the Big 12 Conference and the Pac-12 Conference legacy pool. The Alamo Bowl received the first selection of Big 12 teams not competing in the College Football Playoff (CFP) and the first selection from the Pac-12 legacy poolâÂÂthat is, teams that were members of the Pac-12 during the 2023 season.
On December 4, bowl organizers announced that four teams remained under consideration for the Alamo Bowl: Iowa State and BYU from the Big 12, and Arizona State and Colorado from the Pac-12 legacy pool. As both Arizona State and Colorado became Big 12 members in 2024, the announcement made it likely that the Alamo Bowl would feature an unusual non-playoff bowl matchup of teams from the same conference.
BYU played to a 10âÂÂ2 regular-season record (7âÂÂ2 in conference). The Cougars started with nine consecutive wins and were ranked as high as sixth nationally. The team fell out of College Football Playoff (CFP) consideration with back-to-back losses. BYU faced two ranked FBS teams during the season, defeating Kansas State and losing to Arizona State. The Cougars entered the bowl ranked 17th in each of the major polls.
Colorado posted a regular season record of 9âÂÂ3 (7âÂÂ2 in conference). The Buffalos were unranked until early November, entering the polls when they had a 6âÂÂ2 record. The team faced one ranked FBS opponent, losing to Kansas State. Colorado was placed 23rd in the final CFP rankings, and entered the bowl 20th in the AP poll.
Colorado brought their live mascot Ralphie the Buffalo to the game, which marked Ralphie VI's final appearance at a football game before her retirement in August 2025.