SAN ANTONIO >> Kalani Sitake’s admiration for Colorado head coach Deion Sanders goes back a while.

“I grew up watching him and cheering for him,” the BYU head coach said Friday as he sat next to Sanders for a Valero Alamo Bowl press conference.

“I ain’t that old, man,” Sanders, a 57-year-old Pro Football Hall of Famer, fired back with a smile.

“He’s a little bit older than me,” the 49-year-old Sitake responded. “That means he was making plays when he was young.”

“That makes me feel better,” Coach Prime said.

Regardless of their ages, Sanders and Sitake have become friends and have a great admiration for each other as they prepare to square off for the first time on Saturday when the 20th-ranked Buffs meet the No. 17 Cougars at the Alamodome (5:30 p.m. MT, ABC).

“I love this man in many facets; not just as a coach, but as a man,” Sanders said. “(The Cougars) have his attitude, they have his intellect, his intelligence, his desire, his want. His team embodies who he is as a man, and that is a daunting task. So our kids are going to have to play smart. They’re going to have to be disciplined.”

Sitake is in his ninth season as BYU’s head coach, and Sanders has great respect for what he’s accomplished. Sitake is 71-43 with the Cougars, leading them to three 10-win seasons in the last five years and seven overall bowl appearances. Sitake also rallied a BYU squad that went 5-7 last year and exceeded low expectations this season.

Coach Prime is in just his second season at CU and his fifth as a college coach, but he’s turned around two programs — Jackson State and CU — in that short time, earning plenty of respect from his peers, including Sitake.

“Just have a lot of respect for what he’s done with his team,” Sitake said.

BYU joined the Big 12 last year and CU came into the conference this year. Now that they’re both in the same conference, Sanders and Sitake have gotten to know each other and both have spoken about relying on each other at times.

“Just really appreciate Deion just being open and being so kind to me,” Sitake said. “I think it was a lot of fun for me, just being able to meet somebody that had so much influence in the game, and then being just kind of gracious with his time and it was such a great feeling for me when we met. I feel like he’s my guy. We were able to talk about a bunch of stuff, especially with college football, and how much is changing. I’m able to lean on his intelligence and his advice, and we have a really good relationship, a good friendship, and I love him back.”

One of the traits they share, however, is that they’re old-school competitors. Coach Prime was one of the best cornerbacks to ever play the game and grew up in a tough era of the game. Sitake, a native of Tonga, was a bruising fullback who had a short stint in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Because of that mutual respect for each other and the game, Sanders and Sitake said they’ll put their admiration for each other aside on Saturday as they try to beat each other. They expect to get the best from their opponents.

“Just the competitiveness, the competition, because they’re not going nowhere,” Coach Prime said of what he’s looking forward to most on Saturday, while alluding to the fact that more matchups with the Cougars are to come in Big 12 play. “We’re going to deal with these guys next year and the year after that. They’re not going anywhere, and this man is not going anywhere.”