AUSTIN, Texas -- Ohio State has been allotted just 4,000 tickets to sell to its fans for the Sept. 9 showdown with the Texas Longhorns, but there'll be far more people wearing scarlet and gray in Austin that weekend. "We're projecting 35,000 or 40,000 people," said Bruce Brandel, vice president of the Austin chapter of the Ohio State Alumni Association. If things go as they've planned, fans of the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes will be taking over the Erwin Center, partying at Stubbs, cruising on boat tours, watching the bats and going on pub crawls. "It's not uncommon for fans to just want to be where the team and other fans are, especially when it's a big game, out of state, against a highly ranked opponent," Brandel said. "People will treat it like a minivacation." Most of them probably won't even get into Royal-Memorial Stadium for the game -- a rematch of two of college football's top five teams that is being touted as an early barometer on the national title race. "You'll probably have 10,000 people coming down hoping to get a ticket at the last minute," said Randy Cohen, owner of Ticket City. "This is giant, $1,000 a ticket? We used to pay $5 at Randalls. I could see 30 or 40K (Ohio State fans). ... I don't know where we're going to put them. It could be like Halloween on Sixth Street." Actually, their aim is to turn Austin into a slice of Columbus, at least for one weekend. On game day in Columbus, one of the highlights is the Skull Session for the Ohio State band -- a combination dress rehearsal/pep rally held a few blocks from the stadium at St. John Arena, once the basketball facility for Ohio State. Hmm ... The Erwin Center, where the Longhorns play basketball, is a few blocks away from Royal-Memorial Stadium. So, for $10,000, the Ohio State Alumni Association has rented the 16,000-seat Erwin Center for an afternoon pre-game party on Sept. 9. Erwin Center director John Graham said other visiting schools have rented a part of the building, but he can't remember anyone taking the whole place. Don