Comtemplating a roadtrippin' to all our big 10 games

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gophmeister

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I've decided to get to every big 10 stadium starting this year. I've already been to Madison more than once and for some odd reason Indiana. Odd reason being the win at Ohio St in 2000 and the subsequent delusions of grandeur. I'm soliciting advice about making one or all of these trips this year -- Purdue, Illinoi and Michigan St. The drive for each would probably be about the same after dealing with either Chicago traffic or country roads. What are the best routes, should I get tickets through our ticket office and what should I do when I'm in each town? My enthusiasm may wane if our fortunes swoon late in the season. However, we always seem to do well against Illinois, so I have high hopes for that game. Plus, Red Grange opened that sucker. How can I miss it.
 

Tickets will be available on the street for all three of those. They all have good parking/tailgating lots.
 

gophmeister said:
I've decided to get to every big 10 stadium starting this year. I've already been to Madison more than once and for some odd reason Indiana. Odd reason being the win at Ohio St in 2000 and the subsequent delusions of grandeur. I'm soliciting advice about making one or all of these trips this year -- Purdue, Illinoi and Michigan St. The drive for each would probably be about the same after dealing with either Chicago traffic or country roads. What are the best routes, should I get tickets through our ticket office and what should I do when I'm in each town? My enthusiasm may wane if our fortunes swoon late in the season. However, we always seem to do well against Illinois, so I have high hopes for that game. Plus, Red Grange opened that sucker. How can I miss it.
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Agreed. Last year's Illinois game was an aberration. The Gophers will take down zooker's squad this year.

Also, I'd like to point out the Gophers OWN Michigan State. Minnesota has won 3 in a row and 7 of the last 9 against Sparty.
 

I'm particularly interested in making the trip to Purdue, so some info on that would be tremendous!!
 

You can avoid Chicago by turning south at or near Rockford? on your way to Champaign. I don't remember the roads but it is a major freeway and will be much faster than going through the city. Don't know if this works for Purdue. For MSU you probably have to go through the city.
 


badgergopher said:
You can avoid Chicago by turning south at or near Rockford? on your way to Champaign. I don't remember the roads but it is a major freeway and will be much faster than going through the city. Don't know if this works for Purdue. For MSU you probably have to go through the city.
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The most direct way to go to Illinois, is to take 39 and 74. If you go through Chicago, you went the long way.

For Purdue and MSU, going through Chicago isn't that bad. Just take 294 and don't go through the area during rush-hour and you'll be fine.

I made the trip to all 11 games in 2001 and recommend to anyone to do it if you have the time. It was a fun experience even if the team was 4-7 that year. I completed my Big 10 tour in 2004 with Indiana being the last school.
 

The only time you should ever drive through Chicago is early on a Sunday morning. The rest of the time it's better to take 294. I made the mistake of driving through Chicago on a Friday afternoon once. I began my approach to the metro at 1:00pm and didn't reach the Indiana border until 6:30pm. Brutal.

It's also not bad to take 39 down to 80 and take 80 east to Indiana. It looks like it is way out of the way but it's got a lot less tolls and traffic so you can easily make up the time. That's pretty much how I go through Illinois for all my trips now.
 

I got the most important step out of the way yesterday. I floated the idea past my wife and she was supportive.
 

I completed the Big Ten tour at Penn State in 2003. It's a nice feather to put in the cap....I also committed to & did the full game slate in 2001 & remember sitting with a beer in my hand in the parking lot after the Toledo thrashing thinking "what the hell did I just get myself into?"

Illinois: Like they said, you shouldn't be near Chicago.

As for the other venues, other posters have made correct observations. Only thing I'd throw in is tickets; most likely they're available on the street for Illinois & Purdue...MSU could be dicey, but most likely available. Nevertheless, I'd still buy my tix through the U of M, just because you'll be with other Gopher fans.

Tailgating: Didn't tailgate at Purdue or Illinois. MSU, lots available, but you take a shuttle from the lot to the stadium, but it's not bad.

Hotels: I crashed at frat houses for Illinois & Purdue. But here's a good guide for hotels & campuses....http://www.bigtennetwork.com/hotels/index.asp
 



Away Games

Purdue: Went two years ago. We tailgated at the intramural fields. We stayed at a crappy motel(Knights Inn) for way cheap as half our group was still in college. It is far from the stadium and not close to any decent bars. I would suggest tailgating at the intramural fields, it was awesome and their fans were really nice. It was a huge open area were our group of 20 could spread out a little bit. Plenty of room for yard games and playing catch. Field is a close walk, just follow the crowd.

MSU: We went there in 2006. There were 10 of us and we tailgated in a teacher lot, across the street from the stadium. It was lot 62E directly north of the stadium. We were just driving around the stadium and found that spot. Alot of fun, and again the fans were really nice, although they were basically out of the bowl picture at that point. I am not sure where we stayed but we again stayed in a crappy hotel since 5 of the 10 were in college still and low on cash.

Illinois: We are going this year.
 

My kind of thread...

Having completed two full tours of the Big Ten, it's the non-conference games that grab my attention these days (exactly one month from Murfreesboro!!!). Always nice to reminisce of the 2001 trek to Toledo, and karma coming back to bite Toledo in the ass in our '03 and '04 meetings at the Dome.

Purdue is the armpit of the conference, but it's a short drive from Chicago, so it has that going for it. Both times I've been to Michigan State, they were on the cusp of a coaching change - Bobby Williams in 2002 and John L. Smith in 2006 - and we were treated to Sparty teams that rolled over for the Gophers. That won't be the case this time around, but I'm hopeful to get to that one. I'll definitely be in Champaign - Illinois is one of the better trips on the conference.
 

Just drove to the East Coast with my kids. We hit Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for Big Ten States. My favorites were Michigan and Pennsylvania. Michigan had nice free ways and no tolls. Pennsylvania also has no tolls and was beautiful. Indiana did nothing to change my mind about it being the armpit of america. Just throwing my thoughts out there from driving through. I haven't been to enough campuses or stadiums to give an impression, only what I've seen on tv. I envy anyone that wants to make all the away games...
 




Illinois has a nice stadium and tailgating, but the city itself is pretty boring. When I stayed in Champagna several years ago, the available hotels required a two-night minimum. 24 hours there is enough. The next time I drove up and back the same day, but that was from southern Wisconsin.

I did the every game thing a few years back and, while enjoyable, it about killed me. My house looked like a tornado had gone through it because I was either tailgating at home or traveling on the road every weekend and didn't have time to pick it up before heading back to work. Maybe it was my age (early 50s at the time) or my single state (no one to pick up after me), but it isn't something I would repeat while still working.
 

TAW said:
I did the every game thing a few years back and, while enjoyable, it about killed me. My house looked like a tornado had gone through it because I was either tailgating at home or traveling on the road every weekend and didn't have time to pick it up before heading back to work. Maybe it was my age (early 50s at the time) or my single state (no one to pick up after me), but it isn't something I would repeat while still working.
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I did every game in 2001 while still a student full-time and working part-time. It is very hard on the body, and I don't know if I could do it anymore. My grades weren't a big fan of going to every game either, but it was worth it just to be able to say I did it.
 

My trips:
Illinois - this year
Iowa - 2003 & 2007
Michigan - 2004
Purdue - 2008
Wisconsin - 2000 & 2002 + this year

Bowl games:
Sun Bowl vs. Oregon - 1999
Music City Bowl vs. Arkansas - 2002

I'm also doing Texas @ Nebraska this year.
 




I have made road trips to Iowa 2009, Wisconsin 2008, and Illinois many times (because I'm from the state) and had good experiences at all of them game wise.

For y'all going to Champaign there isn't much around you if your goal is to enjoy the game, bring family etc. They have a nice campus and tailgate lots and a real good band, but the crown jewel for the students is Green St. its definitely more for the younger crowd because it's 19+ to get in there and they all smell like vomit, but it's the stereotypical town-is-run-by-the-school place. Hotels aren't the best so I wish you luck.
 


Thoughts

Congratulations on your decision. With the exception of your new stadium, I have made the complete circuit twice and it is really fantastic.

Find a used book store on-line (abebooks.com or something like it) and find Bob Wood's book "Big Ten Country" from 1989. While obviously dated in many respects, it still is a great read of his journey to all the 10 places in the league (before Penn State came in) and his explorations of the unique traditions at each school as well the cities where they are located.

http://www.thebig10tour.com/ This is a blog of the circuit that was made a year or two ago. From a much younger perspective than Wood's book, but still some interesting things to read.

Some suggestions on your destinations.

MSU has some very precise regulations on tailgating that depend on the time of the game in terms of what times that parking lots open on campus. Keep that in mind. You also might consider staying in either Kalamazoo or Jackson and finishing the drive on Saturday morning to avoid the add on charges for hotels in Lansing on a football Saturday. The main drag is the north edge of campus and it is very charged with energy on Friday nights as well as before and after the game. There must be some requirement that all MSU students must be carrying a case of "Natural Light" on game day mornings from the local liquor mart. MSU is one of the prettier campuses in the conference in both buildings and coeds, so I would highly recommend taking some time to explore.

In going to Champaign, I would highly recommend getting to the stadium early and walking around. Memorial Stadium is a World War I memorial and, in my opinion, one of the better designs of the bunch. Each column is inscribed in the memory of an Illinois student who lost their lives in service to the United States during the war. The place is full of history . Around Memorial Stadium are some nicer old barns and such if you are into that kind of thing. There is lots of space for tailgating so plan to make a day of it. I don't know much about Champaign nightlife, since it is an easy day-trip for me to make.

As far as Purdue, make sure you fit in a trip to the Triple XXX. Fabulous food in a building that is pretty much frozen in time. I would highly recommend that you avoid Chicago on the drive (as others have suggested) and come via I-74 (past Champaign) and then either drive to Indianapolis and then go up I-65, or take back roads for the last hour of the trip so you don't dip so far south. Purdue is fairly far removed from the Interstate, so plan for a nice tailgate afterwards to let the others fight the traffic.
 

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