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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted at 3:49 p.m., Tuesday, January 6, 2009

CFB: Oklahoma-BYU 1st college game at new Cowboys field

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas — Oklahoma and BYU will play the first college game in the Dallas Cowboys' new $1.1 billion-plus stadium in September.

The Sept. 5 game will be the first in a five-year deal between the Cowboys and ESPN for season kickoff games at the stadium on Labor Day weekend. The Oklahoma-BYU game will be televised in prime time by ESPN or ABC.

"The Cowboys have achieved amazing stature in our area and we are flattered that (owner) Jerry Jones and his organization would include our program in this way," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said in a release. "We understand that the stadium is a showplace."

The stadium with a retractable roof and about 80,000 seats is scheduled to open in the summer. It is already set to host the Super Bowl at the end of the 2010 NFL season and will become the new home of the Cotton Bowl next January. The NBA All-Star game will be played there next season, as will the next two Big 12 football championship games.

Texas A&M and Arkansas already have a long series planned at the stadium, and Notre Dame will play Arizona State there in 2013.

Oklahoma, which plays in the BCS championship against Florida on Thursday night, has played BYU only one other time. The Cougars won 31-6 in the 1994 Copper Bowl.

"We appreciate the unique opportunity of being part of the first college game played in the new home of the Dallas Cowboys," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.