Sunrise at the Cotton Bowl

The Cotton Bowl indeed is finally that — a bowl — with its capacity increased from 76,000 to 92,200 this year. 

With its entire upper deck now enclosed, the 76-year-old facility had early arriving fans gawking their approval.

As the sun rose over the jumbo scoreboard in the South end zone at 8:02 a.m., several thousand fans already were on State Fair Park grounds, which feature some wider walking areas thanks to some fresh concrete.

The ESPN GameDay stage outside the stadium was drawing a crowd in preparation for its 9 a.m. launch.  The second halfd of the show will move onto the field along the west sideline.

The South tunnel remains intact, although is more engulfed by seats.

OU-Texas is as captivating as it’s ever been on the field, but the $57 million renovation is a shot in the arm the State Fair of Texas desperately needed to keep the series where it should be.