Reliant Stadium has many uses in the offseason. For the past month, the Texans' home turf was the headquarters of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, which shares ownership of the stadium along with the Texans and Harris County. Dirt covered the stadium floor as fans filled Reliant to watch bull-riding and other livestock competitions along with concerts each night.
The rodeo ended on Sunday evening, and already the stadium is being overhauled for the next event. The Sweet 16 South regional of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament begins Friday at Reliant Stadium, with Duke, Purdue, Baylor and St. Mary's coming to town. That gives the stadium crew a matter of days to clean out all remnants of the rodeo and have the place sparkling for a nationwide viewing audience.
The Sweet 16 games will be played on an elevated hardwood court, **as was the case** when Reliant first hosted tournament games back in 2008 (the Final Four will be played here in 2011). Extra seating will be added around the court, and a curtain will likely be draped over one or both ends of the stadium as well.
Here's a look at the hubbub inside the stadium bowl on Monday morning:
