Full slate of Big 12 events

With the Texans' and the Rice Owls' seasons in the basement and the UH Cougars possibly headed to a baby bowl, it looks like the most football excitement in Houston this weekend is the Big 12 Championship. Though the game itself is sold out, there'll be plenty of events in town for you Longhorn and Buffalo fans — and everyone else:

• The Big 12 Championship Fan Fest kicks off at noon today and 9 a.m. Saturday at Market Square downtown with all the usual suspects: food, a children's area, lots of stuff to buy and ... a stunt dog Frisbee exhibition? Well, that makes about as much sense as the arts and crafts fair that'll also be part of the festivities. We're not sure what's up with that, but we suspect it has something to do with Vince Young paper dolls.
• At 7 p.m. today, Buff fans will pack Market Square for the Colorado pep rally, followed by the Texas pep rally at 8 p.m. For either team's fans, there's plenty of reason to be there; for everyone else, why not show up? It'll be just like your high school pep rallies, if your high school team was one of the best in the country and thousands of people showed up in downtown Houston to cheer it on.
• Musical acts will perform on the Bud Light Texas Music Stage across Preston Avenue from Market Square today and Saturday: the New Birth Brass Band at 6 p.m. today and the Randy Rogers Band at 9 p.m. New Birth will play again at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by Micky and the Motorcars at 7 p.m. and The Lost Boys at 8:30.
• And, of course, there'll be plenty of watch parties — you can catch the game, which starts at noon Saturday, in sports bars all over town. It'll also be televised on ABC and on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 110 for Texas fans, 143 for Colorado fans).