SAN ANTONIO, Texas — For nearly a half-hour Friday morning at the Alamodome, BYU coach Kalani Sitake and Colorado coach Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders previewed Saturday's Alamo Bowl and talked about a number of other topics, including their friendship.
Here's hoping the game itself, which kicks off at 5:30 p.m. MST on ABC, is as entertaining.
Friday's rollicking news conference got off to a humorous start, with Sanders — wearing white overalls over a black hoodie — saying that Sitake "won the dress-up match today, and I'm not happy about that."
Replied Sitake, who was wearing a sports coat over a black polo: "I've got one outfit, man. This is about it. We switch wardrobes right now, I'm pretty sure I would get a lot more from it than you would. I could never make that (outfit) work."
Sitake said he grew up watching Sanders play for the Atlanta Falcons , Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers , and that because he grew up a 49ers fan he liked Sanders better when he was playing for that team.
"I ain't that old, man," Sanders, 57, said.
Sitake is 49.
Both coaches heaped praise upon their counterparts and opponents in a game that will pit the 10-2 Cougars against the 9-3 Buffaloes even though both teams are in the Big 12.
Sitake said Colorado is about a lot more than just its superstars — Heisman Trophy winner and two-way player Travis Hunter , quarterback Shedeur Sanders and receiver LaJohntay Wester.
"When you look at what Colorado does, you look at the talent, how well-coached they are," Sitake said. "One of the things that is most impressive is they have talent, you can see it, but they also have a high football IQ, which means they are learning from the coaching staff and their experience in the game."
Sanders reiterated what he's been saying since the matchup was announced in early December — that the stars will play and the game means everything to his program.
"We don't look at it as a springboard," he said. "It's a game we want to win. We're not just making a cameo here just to show up. We don't do that."
The Buffaloes enter as the hotter team, having walloped Oklahoma State 52-0 in Boulder on Nov. 29.
BYU won its last game, taking down Houston 30-18 in Provo, but lost the two before that, to Kansas and Arizona State by a combined nine points.
"We have a valued opponent, a (coach) that his team is well-coached, disciplined, structured. Good athletes on both sides of the ball. They got some tremendous players," Sanders said of BYU. "They're not going to make mistakes. We have to beat them. They're not going to allow us (to do whatever we want). They're going to play the game of football like they've been taught to play."
Sitake described the first time he met Sanders, at some Big 12 meetings last summer, and how good the worldwide superstar once known as "Prime Time" made him feel.
"I feel like he's my guy. We were able to talk about a bunch of stuff, especially with college football, how much it's changing. I am able to lean on his intelligence and advice," Sitake said. "We have a really good relationship, a good friendship. I love him back. Can't love each other for about three-and-a-half, four hours tomorrow, though."
Both coaches and their programs have leaned heavily into the "we weren't supposed to be here" theme, with BYU having been picked to finish 13th in the Big 12, and Colorado 11th.
Colorado got off to a slow start, edging North Dakota State 31-26 before getting drubbed 28-10 by Nebraska. Its other losses were to Kansas State (31-28) and Kansas (37-21).
"We were supposed to be in the crib right now, focused on recruiting, improving our rosters," Sanders said. "Nevertheless, we're here. Nevertheless, not only that, we're a few plays away from playing in another week or so (in the College Football Playoff)."
Sitake said that both teams love playing football so much that they would play "even if nobody showed up and if there were no cameras there."
Replied the flamboyant Sanders, who has never shied away from publicity: "We would have at least one camera, though. That's how we get down. I am sorry coach, but we want some cameras there. At least one. My son, he has to be there."
Sitake said the opportunity to face such high-profile players as Shedeur Sanders , who is Sanders' son and might be the first quarterback taken in April's NFL draft, and Hunter has motivated the Cougars since the matchup was announced, and makes up for the fact that both teams are in the Big 12.
"When you start looking at that, you start to realize, man, this is a really gifted team," Sitake said. "That caught our attention. … There are next-level players on Colorado's team. We have a lot of players that want to prove they belong there, too."
BYU will travel to Boulder this fall in what will be a legitimate, for-real, Big 12 game, a fact that isn't lost on Coach Prime.
"Just the competitiveness, the competition, because they're not going nowhere," Sanders said of BYU. "We have to deal with these guys next year, the year after that. They're not going anywhere. This man (Sitake) is not going anywhere. They have his attitude, his intellect, his intelligence. His team embodies who he is as a man. That is a daunting task for us."
