Tunnel talk played as a posturing sideshow to the 2006 Red River Rivalry.
Turns out now, it was just that: talk.
Longhorns fans deserved a shot at sitting in the south end zone of the Cotton Bowl, site of the famed tunnel that feeds teams onto the classic stadium's playing field — so said Texas officials during negotiations for continuing the series with OU in Dallas.
But after making seating arrangements a key issue in a deal to keep the game in the Cotton Bowl through 2010 — since expanded through 2015 — Texas officials now say they're staying put, maintaining a hold on the north half of the Cotton Bowl.
"The contract allows the home team to pick, and we're leaving it the way it was,” Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds told the Dallas Morning News on Monday.
Texas is the home team for 2007.
Dodds offered a much different take last October, when the future site of the series hung in the balance and the perceived edge enjoyed by Sooners fans over the tunnel became a bargaining point.
And he seemed to represent Longhorns fans.
"The tunnel is so historic,” Kevin Hickson, a Texas fan from Brownsville told The Oklahomanjust before last year's kickoff. "Such a big tradition. We'd like a chance to enjoy it.”
Or not. Dodds noted three factors behind maintaining a status quo that has seen OU fans occupy the south end annually for decades.
Improved "security” around the tunnel; view of the Cotton Bowl's new giant video board over the tunnel; and band seating that may accommodate the school's band in the south end, Dodds told the Morning News.
The option shifts to the Sooners for 2008. Might OU reconsider its stance to see how the 'Horns half lives?
"We understand that Texas has made its decision for 2007, and it is unlikely we would change the seating for 2008,” OU spokesman Kenny Mossman said.
