Tonight is the kind of night that helped Lloyd Noble Center gain its reputation. It wasn’t just Wayman Tisdale or Billy Tubbs’ run-and-gun squads that helped Oklahoma’s home court become nationally renowned.

It was because big games were played there.

Few have been bigger than the one at 8 tonight between No. 6 Oklahoma (15-1, 1-0 Big 12) and No. 7 Texas (12-3, 1-0).

“This is a game that everyone is excited about,” OU’s Blake Griffin said. “This is what we want.”

The Sooners and Longhorns can get together for a game of bridge and it’s going to bring out some emotion and, most likely, hostility.

But this year’s first edition of Red River Rivalry showcases two teams battling for supremacy in the Big 12 Conference. Even though it’s early January, NCAA Tournament seedings could be decided on the outcome.

It’s been a while since Lloyd Noble Center was the site for something with those kinds of ramifications. You have to go all the way back to 2003 when the Longhorns, then ranked No. 3, stunned No. 5 OU and ruined Hollis Price’s and Quannas White’s Senior Day.

It was the third and final “top 10 meeting” of Kelvin Sampson’s tenure. OU whipped Kansas, 77-71, in battle between the fifth- and sixth-ranked teams in 2003. As part of the Sooners’ Final Four season in 2002 OU, ranked No. 6, topped then No. 9 Oklahoma State 58-53.

Those games ran the list of meetings between top 10 teams to 10 at Lloyd Noble Center. It’s those games that form the core of OU’s basketball tradition.

The back-to-back victories over Missouri and Kansas when both were ranked No. 1 in 1990. The victory over then-No. 1 Arizona in 1989. Also, there was the epic showdown between Tisdale’s Sooners and Mark Price’s Georgia Tech squad in 1985.

Those games all had one thing in common.

A rabid crowd and an electric atmosphere.

They’ve been rare for the last several years. OU’s only hosted four top 10 teams since. The Sooners were only ranked for one of those games.

OU coach Jeff Capel didn’t go the Bob Stoops’ route and needle fans like he did before the football game against Texas Tech. He hopes they’ll take it upon themselves to be a force without provocation.

“It’s very critical. I hope we can have a good crowd,” he said. “I think our guys have earned it and I hope people will come out an support it.”