Texas to practice at Texas Stadium

December, 18, 2009
12/18/09
10:12
AM CT
Crews have been busy the past 48 hours transforming Cowboys Stadium into a basketball mecca for Saturday's national broadcast on ESPN pitting No. 2 Texas against No. 10 North Carolina. It's the first of many basketball games to come at Cowboys Stadium.

The set up at the $1.2 billion stadium in Arlington will resemble last April's Final Four at Ford Field in Detroit. The floor will be raised with center court literally on top of the Cowboys' star at the 50-yard line with sections of seating brought in around the court to get fans closer to the action. The Longhorns will get their first look at the set up, which will certainly initially test any jump shooter's depth perception, at 1 p.m. today for practice.

Tip off Saturday is also set for 1 p.m. Some 45,000 fans are expected to attend.

Among them will be NBA representatives who will be there to size up Cowboys Stadium in anticipation of the Feb. 14 NBA All-Star Game there, an event that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban worked together to bring to North Texas. When the game was announced, Cuban said he believed the All-Star Game could draw 100,000.

Cowboys Stadium is also slated to host the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

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