Texas Tech University and the 'Celebrate Cotton' campaign is set to host its seventh annual event in recognition of the state's massive cotton industry on Saturday (Sept. 15) when the Red Raiders take on the Houston Cougars at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock. The game, which currently has a start time of 3 p.m., is a partnership between Texas Tech Athletics, Plains Cotton Growers and several area agribusinesses.

Cotton has a strong presence at Texas Tech. It's represented in the university seal and is studied intensely in research labs across campus, said William Brown, dean of Texas Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Cotton is the featured material in the university's Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute, in addition to several ongoing research programs focusing on cotton in Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science.

During the past decade, West Texas cotton has experienced a dramatic transformation through new transgenic cotton varieties and advanced technology. During that time Texas Tech researchers have worked on a number of projects to enhance fiber quality through genetics and create new value-added cotton products.

Meanwhile, officials with Plains Cotton Growers said cotton will be everywhere before and throughout the game, from displays around the stadium to promotion, special graphics and fun cotton facts during the game. Special game day T-shirts, sponsored by PCG and Scarborough Specialties, will be distributed of a first-come, first-serve basis, and cotton bales will line each entrance to the stadium, each with signage talking about what the cotton in that bale can make or how it impacts the economy.

CONTACT: William Brown, Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or william.f.brown@ttu.edu

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