SAN ANTONIO >> With a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 standings at the end of the regular season, two teams were going to be left out of the conference title game.

No. 17 BYU and No. 20 Colorado played well enough all season to be in contention for the Big 12 title, but both had to sit home and watch on TV as Arizona State routed Iowa State, 45-19, in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 7.

Their opportunity to square off will come on Saturday, though, when the Buffs (9-3) and Cougars (10-2) meet in the Valero Alamo Bowl (5:30 p.m., ABC).

“I think it’s the people’s Big 12 Championship, personally,” BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff said during an Alamo Bowl news conference on Thursday.

The actual Big 12 title game turned into a dud when ASU steamrolled Iowa State. The Alamo Bowl, meanwhile, is a rare game between teams from the same conference, only because CU (and other former Pac-12 teams) are still tied to Pac-12 bowls contractually.

Because of that quirk, the CU vs. BYU matchup is somewhat of a secondary Big 12 title game.

“BYU was top of the conference at one point of the season,” CU receiver LaJohntay Wester said. “We was top of the conference at one point in the season. So, I mean, y’all seen the Big 12 game. Yeah, it was cool … so we’re going to give y’all a show, real Big 12 show on Saturday. That’s all I’m going to say.”

With two weeks left in the regular season, CU and BYU were in control of their own destiny to get to Arlington, but both lost on the penultimate week of the regular season. Both went into the final weekend of the regular season hoping other teams would lose, but not enough dominoes fell for either team.

“We both had to watch other games to see if we were going to get in, so I think it’s kind of a personal thing for everybody knowing that we couldn’t be in that game and seeing how that game went,” CU receiver Will Sheppard said. “And, just kind of making this one similar and make it like the Super Bowl for us.”

Facing Hunter

BYU receiver Chase Roberts hasn’t had nearly the attention on him as CU star Travis Hunter, who earlier this month won the Heisman Trophy as college football’s top player and the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver. But Roberts, who has enjoyed a great season, has admiration for his counterpart.

“I love players that love the game and that do things right on and off the field,” said Roberts, BYU’s leading receiver with 51 catches for 843 yards. “I think Travis Hunter is a guy that does that, so I look up to him. I’m just excited to go against him on the other side of the ball too. I’m excited that he plays corner as well.”

Hunter has posted 92 receptions for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense, but might spend part of Saturday covering Roberts.

“To watch him and his game and learn from him, it’s just … I love the challenge,” Roberts said. “I want to go against guys like that. It’s what you dream of as a little kid, to go against the best players in college football and then make it to the NFL and go prove yourself in the NFL.

“So my goal is to obviously win the game as a team and then also to play well and to show that I can play and that we can hang as a team with these great players. So I’m excited. It’s going to be fun.”

Notable

CU offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, 59, became a grandfather on Dec. 2, while his second grandchild was born on Dec. 8 and his third on Dec. 12. “My three oldest children had babies,” he said. “I’m going to get the first flight out of here on Sunday to go meet two of them. I can’t wait for that.” … CU’s 100-year-old superfan, Peggy Coppom, arrived in San Antonio on Thursday. … The Buffs’ live mascot, Ralphie, practiced her runs on the Alamodome turf on Thursday.