University of Oklahoma football fans couldn't stop oohing and aahing about the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, tossing around descriptions like "beautiful," "awesome," "spectacular" and even "pretty."

DMN File 2008

Oklahoma fans say the tradition and trappings of the Cotton Bowl, set amid the State Fair of Texas, make it the best place for the annual Texas-OU game.

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Still, it's no Cotton Bowl – especially when it comes to the game with the rival Texas Longhorns.

Built in 1930, and expanded considerably in the late '40s when Doak Walker ran wild for Southern Methodist University, the old stadium shows its age despite recent renovations.

Even so, OU fans who have attended football games in both stadiums wouldn't trade the Cotton Bowl for a billion dollars – or in the case of Cowboys Stadium, a cool $1.2 billion.

"Arlington has a lot to be proud of for the product they've built for Mr. [Jerry] Jones," said Trae Anderson of Dallas, a 1994 graduate. "It's an amazing facility. For professional sports and concerts, it's awesome.

"For college football, especially the Red River Rivalry, it would be a tremendous mistake."

But with Cowboys Stadium looming 20 miles to the west, folks naturally talk about the football future of the Cotton Bowl.

How do the two measure up?

Fans who have watched their beloved Sooners in annual meetings with the University of Texas at the Cotton Bowl, and who opened their season this year against Brigham Young University at Cowboys Stadium, checked off the pros and cons of each, and reached a unanimous verdict:

When it comes to the Texas-OU game, the Cotton Bowl is the place.

"I went to the BYU game; we sat in the upper level. It was not good," said Don Waddelow of Plano, an OU grad who has followed the Sooners since the glory days of Bud Wilkinson's teams. "It's not a very good place to watch a football game.

"We couldn't hear the band. The players were so small down on the field you couldn't tell who was who. You couldn't even read the numbers."

And despite all of the gee-whiz features of Cowboys Stadium, the big game needs more, Waddelow said.

"That game, to be what it is, needs the backdrop of the State Fair and Big Tex and the corn dogs, all those things," he said. "Otherwise it's just another game, frankly."

True, even with renovations, the Cotton Bowl is old, the aisles narrow and the concourses a bit on the small side.

"But it's not like we're going there every week," Waddelow said. "We go one week a year and it's the game, it's the Cotton Bowl and it's the fair.

"You aren't going to have that in Arlington."

In conversation after conversation, the same words came up. It's all about setting and all about tradition, the OU fans said. The Cotton Bowl has both.

"It's a beautiful stadium in Arlington, if a little overpriced," said alum Bret Strahm of Dallas. "But I'd rather stay at the Cotton Bowl, partly for pricing, partly for atmosphere."

"The atmosphere can't be beat," added Tina Tuccelli, president of the OU alumni club in Dallas.

"You can tailgate around Jerry's World. You can walk to restaurants, I guess. But there's nothing like Fletcher's corny dogs and a beer at 9 in the morning before an 11 a.m. game."

Tommy Mann, a Dallas lawyer and OU grad, said "tradition is the difference, and that's the reason I never want to see this game leave the Cotton Bowl."

"I can't imagine this game being anywhere else," he said.

Mann, who went to OU for his bachelor's degree and then the University of Michigan for law school, has been a part of a couple of great rivalries: UT-OU and Michigan-Ohio State.

"And Michigan-Ohio State was great," he said. "But there's nothing like sitting in the Cotton Bowl, in the middle of the State Fair."

Alan Morris of Dallas, a 2002 OU graduate, said it's almost a sensory experience.

"I can look one way over the top of the bowl and see the Ferris wheel, and then look out over the other end zone and see downtown Dallas," he said. "Then I look around, and the stadium is split down the 50-yard line between crimson and burnt orange."

And don't discount location.

Besides being about halfway between Austin and Norman, the Cotton Bowl is right on DART's new Green Line, for those who don't want to search for parking. And it's close to the restaurant, bar and club districts in Dallas.

"For the BYU game, friends who were coming in from out of town asked, 'Where do we stay? Do we stay in Dallas? Do we stay in Arlington? Do we go out the night before?' It would be awkward to not have it in Dallas and near all the fun stuff," said Toya Harris of Dallas, who earned her Boomer Sooner degree in 1997.

Ultimately, though, money could determine where the rivalry game is played once the current contract with the Cotton Bowl runs out in 2015.

"I know the schools are going to explore every option and price out everything that will do the best for the university," Tuccelli said. "But we'd like to see it stay in Dallas."

Kristin Waddelow, Don's daughter and also an OU grad, called the game "such a unique experience."

"I know it has to do with money, but I think the schools really do need to think about that," she said.

Besides, said Michael Walenciak, an OU grad in Plano, some things count more than money when it comes to college football.

"Obviously, the new stadium has everything going for it – the largest TV in the world and all that," he said.

"But at the Cotton Bowl, you can go to the fair before or after the game if you want. That makes it almost surreal – this big stadium right in the middle of the State Fair.

"So I like the Cotton Bowl. And I hope the game always stays there."

Oklahoma fans have had the unique opportunity to see their team play in both the new Cowboys Stadium and the Cotton Bowl. Based on interviews, here is what they had to say about the two venues.