It’s just like planes, trains and cars, except in college football. As No. 3 Penn State prepares for Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game against No. 1 Oregon at Lucas Oil Stadium, fans are doing everything they can to reach Indianapolis, Indiana.
For some fans, a trip to Indy for the Big Ten title game is a chance to revive family traditions.
Philadelphia International Airport looks more like Happy Valley when fans take to the skies.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Anand Ganjam, president of the Penn State Alumni Association. “We didn’t expect this to happen. And then we found out last week, after Michigan beat Ohio State, and we all just started booking our tickets. As you can see, a lot of Penn Staters are going there .We I’m expecting thousands, and it’s going to be a great time.”
Other travelers prefer a strong ground game.
Kyle Martin
Kyle Martin and his father Greg decided to drive away.
“I thought, it’s only a 10-hour drive,” Martin said.
Martin graduated from Penn State in 2010. His father graduated from college in 1986.
For Martin, it’s about bringing back a cherished family tradition.
“From the time I graduated until about 2017, we always went to a game together,” Martin said. “We didn’t do that. COVID was part of that. We were supposed to go to Virginia Tech for a game in 2020 and obviously that got canceled, so we haven’t been to a game in a while.”
Kyle Martin
Penn State has played in the Big Ten Championship game just once since its founding in 2011. That was in 2016, when the Nittany Lions defeated Wisconsin 38-31 in the Big Ten title game. Penn State will seek its fifth Big Ten championship on Saturday night.
“Saquon [Barkley] I was a sophomore the last time we were in the Big Ten Championship Game,” Martin said.” I thought, ‘I don’t know when the next time we’ll get this opportunity is.’ I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
For those who can’t make the trip, the Philadelphia chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association is hosting four viewing parties. The full list of watch parties is available online.
“We just ask that you bring that white energy that you would bring to Beaver Stadium,” said Shane White, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association, “so they can hear us from Philly to Indy.”
A Penn State win over Oregon would also earn them a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff format, but Bill DiFilippo of the Roar Lions Roar podcast believes it would do so much more than that.
“Penn State has the perception of being the team that gets into a big game and then loses it,” DiFilippo said. “I think if they go out and beat the No. 1 team in the country, win the Big Ten, the best conference in college football, a lot of the concerns about Penn State’s inability to win the big ones go away.”
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. on CBS.
