Colorado’s hopes for the Big 12 championship ended Saturday as tiebreakers favored other teams, leaving the Buffaloes out despite sharing the top standings.

Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders‘ Buffs (9-3 overall, 7-2 Big 12) shared the top spot in regular-season standings with Arizona State, Iowa State, and BYU.

Arizona State and Iowa State secured the tiebreaker advantage and will compete for the league championship Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

CU’s conference result is its best non-divisional finish since sharing the Big 8 title with Nebraska in 1991.

The Buffs’ hopes stayed strong until the night’s final game. However, their chance depended on Houston defeating BYU, but BYU claimed a 30-18 victory instead.

The Buffs now look forward to a bowl game, with matchups revealed next Sunday.

This year’s bowl games will see a small change. Former Pac-12 teams now in the ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten will keep their previous bowl ties, including the Holiday Bowl, Independence Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, LA Bowl, Sun Bowl, and Alamo Bowl.

The Alamo Bowl gets the first pick from the Big 12 and Pac-12 teams, followed by the Holiday, Las Vegas, Sun, LA, and Independence bowls.

Although it’s uncertain where the Buffs will end up, Coach Prime and the team are sure to be a top pick. CU has become one of the most-watched teams, with standout stars like Heisman contender Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Bowl committees will want to bring in that star power and media attention.

A bowl win would give Colorado 10 victories, a feat they’ve only reached twice since 1996. They haven’t won a bowl game in 20 years, losing their last four appearances. Their most recent bowl win was in 2004, when they defeated UTEP in the Houston Bowl.