Penn State-Oregon Big Ten Championship Game reignites family tradition for fans
It's like planes, trains and automobiles — except for college football. As No. 3 Penn State readies for the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday against No. 1 Oregon at Lucas Oil Stadium, fans are doing whatever they can to get to Indianapolis, Indiana.
For some fans, a trip to Indy for the Big Ten title game is a chance to reignite family traditions.
Philadelphia International Airport looks more like Happy Valley as fans take to the air.
"I couldn't be more excited," Anand Ganjam, president of the Penn State Alumni Association, said. "We weren't expecting 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're seeing, a lot of Penn Staters are headed out there. We're expecting thousands, and it's going to be an awesome time."
Other travelers prefer a strong ground game.
Kyle Martin and his dad Greg decided to drive out.
"I was like, eh, it's only a 10-hour drive," Martin said.
Martin graduated from Penn State in 2010. His dad graduated from the university in 1986.
For Martin, this is about bringing back a treasured family tradition.
"From the time I graduated until about I want to say 2017, we always went to a game together," Martin said. "We haven't. 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."
Penn State has only played in the Big Ten Championship game once since it was established in 2011. That was back in 2016, when the Nittany Lions beat Wisconsin, 38-31, in the Big Ten title game. Penn State seeks its fifth Big Ten championship Saturday night.
"Saquon [Barkley] was a sophomore last time we were in the Big Ten Championship Game," Martin said. "I was like, 'I don't know when the next time we're going to have 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 will host four watch parties. The full list of its watch parties is available online.
"We just ask that you bring that whiteout energy that you would at Beaver Stadium," Shane White, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association, said, "so that way they can hear us from Philly to Indy."
A Penn State win over Oregon would also give them a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff format, but Bill DiFilippo from the Roar Lions Roar podcast believes it would do so much more than that.
"Penn State has this perception of being the team that gets into the 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, best conference in college football, a lot of those fears about Penn State's inability to win the big one go away."
Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday on CBS.
