Dallas ? The old stadium still will be half-orange, half-crimson, with Bevo on one side and the Sooner Schooner on the other.

The State Fair of Texas still will be roaring outside, with fans from both sides slipping out for a beer and a corny dog at halftime.

And the winning team still will get to take home the Golden Hat trophy.

Yet something is different about this year’s Texas-Oklahoma game. Make that a lot of things, a lot of important things – and they all trace to last Saturday, when both teams lost games they were expected to win with ease.

With Oklahoma stumbling against Colorado and Texas getting stomped at home by Kansas State, the stakes have plummeted in today’s matchup of Red River rivals. No longer a probable top-five matchup between teams jockeying for a spot in the national championship chase, it’s now a battle between clubs trying to avoid being buried in the conference race.

“Everybody sees the big picture, and everybody has the same goal in mind,” OU receiver Malcolm Kelly said. “Both teams.”

The Sooners (4-1, 0-1 Big 12) are ranked No. 10 and the Longhorns (4-1, 0-1) are No. 19. It’s the first time since 2000 that neither has come in ranked seventh or better.

The last time both teams were coming off a loss was 1999, so long ago that Bob Stoops was in his first year at OU, Mack Brown in his second at UT. For the last time both teams came in with a conference loss, you have to go back to 1997, when John Mackovic was still coaching the Longhorns and John Blake was the Sooners’ boss.

Regardless, this game is one of the jewels in college football. The colors, the setting – at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, where it’s been held every year since 1929 – and the hatred between fans makes this game worth watching regardless of things like records and rankings.

“It is almost like a bowl game within itself,” Texas center Dallas Griffin said.