Although it won’t be official until Sunday, Colorado’s ticket was punched for the Alamo Bowl on Saturday.

The 23rd-ranked Buffaloes (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) will face either No. 16 Iowa State (10-3, 7-2) or No. 18 BYU (10-2, 7-2) at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Dec. 28 (5:30 p.m., ABC).

Official announcement will come on Sunday, but CU’s spot at the Alamo was secured when 15th-ranked Arizona State (11-2, 7-2) crushed Iowa State, 45-19, in the Big 12 title game on Saturday.

While the Buffs and ASU joined the Big 12 Conference this season, their 13-year membership in the Pac-12 is still a factor when it comes to bowl season. For this year and 2025, the two remaining Pac-12 teams and the 10 teams who have since moved to other conferences are still contractually tied to the Pac-12 bowls.

Once the 12-team College Football Playoff is set, the Alamo Bowl has first choice among the rest of the “Pac-12” teams.

Earlier this week, the Alamo Bowl announced that its choices for the Pac-12 were down to Arizona State and CU.

With ASU routing Iowa State on Saturday to win the Big 12, the Sun Devils will be heading to the CFP, sending Colorado to San Antonio.

This will be just the third bowl appearance for CU in the past 17 seasons, with all of them coming at the Alamo Bowl.

The Buffs lost to Oklahoma State, 38-8, in the 2016 Alamo Bowl, and to Texas, 55-23, in the 2020 Alamo Bowl.

CU also made an appearance at the 2002 Alamo Bowl, falling to Wisconsin, 31-28, in overtime.

In their history, the Buffs are 12-18 in bowl games and have lost four in a row. The last win came in the 2004 Houston Bowl, 33-28 against UTEP.