Texas-sized advantage: 25,000 screaming fans
HOUSTON -- At some point tonight, perhaps as early as pregame layups, the chants will start.
"Texas!" the burnt-orange throng on one side of the stadium will holler.
"Fight!" the other side will answer.
Brook Lopez and his Stanford teammates will notice, of course -- 25,000 people tend to make a lot of noise. And with their hands locked in the Hook 'em Horns gesture, their arms pivoting in unison, it'll be quite a sight, too.
Yet, Cardinal players insist it won't bother them, even when the Orangebloods gang up and turn against them. After the catcalls they heard at UCLA and the edgy jabs spewed at Oregon State, they're convinced playing Texas in an NFL stadium in Houston will be just another road game.
"Same thing," Lopez said. "Just a bigger arena."
Bigger stakes, too.
Texas and Stanford are playing in a South regional semifinal, with the winner becoming among the eight teams still vying for the national title. The third-seeded Cardinal (28-7) hasn't gotten this far since 2001, while the second-seeded Longhorns (30-6) already have gotten a round farther than they did last year with superstar freshman Kevin Durant.
The matchup is a classic case of opposites: Stanford and its big guys, 7-foot twins Brook and Robin Lopez, vs. Texas and its little guys, do-it-all guard D.J. Augustin and shooting ace A.J. Abrams.
Analysts can fill a school's worth of chalkboards with strategies and counterstrategies about exploiting those differences. But the X factor might be how both teams will react to the Longhorns-loving crowd.
After all, the pressure of trying to please family, friends and fans can be a burden for guys in their late teens and early 20s.
"We don't want them distracted from the fact that we have to get ready to play a basketball game against an outstanding team," coach Rick Barnes said.
Texas has done just fine in recent years, going 6-0 in NCAA Tournament games played in the Lone Star State since 2002. That includes a trip to the Final Four in '03 that was sealed by a pair of regional-round wins in San Antonio.