NEW ORLEANS- Tourism officials say New Year's Eve festivities and Friday's Allstate Sugar Bowl have filled the nearly 21,000 hotel rooms in downtown New Orleans and is sure to keep bars and restaurants busy through the weekend.
    
On Friday, the No. 13 Oklahoma State Cowboys will face off against the No. 16 Ole Miss Rebels at the Superdome.
    
Mark Romig, president of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., says two good teams that have not traveled here in a long time has brought a lot of pent-up excitement.
    
Besides drawing business for local hotels and restaurants, major sporting events such as the Sugar Bowl give the city valuable national exposure, as images of Jackson Square and other iconic local sights are periodically flashed to viewers watching the game on TV.