Marquee cross-country road trips have begun in expanded Big Ten

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Indiana fans converged on the restaurants and hotels of Pasadena’s famed Colorado Boulevard last weekend. On Saturday night, they cheered their Hoosiers to a blowout victory at the Rose Bowl.

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A big contingent of Southern California fans will invade Ann Arbor, Michigan, this weekend, while a slightly smaller group of Northwestern fans will travel all the way to Seattle.

The epic road trips created by the Big Ten’s West Coast expansion are finally here, and they’re creating cool new opportunities for fans all across the continent.

The excitement generated by these suddenly momentous conference games already is proving to be a shot in the arm to Big Ten programs — particularly ones like UCLA and Indiana, which haven’t given their fans much reason to get excited lately.

The Hoosiers and Bruins had never met on a football field, and Indiana hadn’t played on this hallowed grass since the 1968 Rose Bowl, when it lost to a USC team led by O.J. Simpson. Thousands of Indiana fans made up for lost time last weekend, whether they made the trip out West for the weekend or reunited with their school after moving to Southern California themselves.

The Rose Bowl is a bucket-list destination for countless football fans around the country, and many of those Midwest fans of non-powerhouse schools that don’t get regular New Year’s Day trips to the West Coast now have a reason to make the journey in the coming years.

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The Hoosiers (3-0) also left happy after a 42-13 victory.

“I mean, it’s awesome,” Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke said. “Being able to play in this historic stadium means a ton. Not only to play well, but also get the win, (it will) definitely be memorable.”

Everybody in Big Ten benefits

The new schedule also worked out well for UCLA, which has struggled with apathetic attendance for years — even before the thoroughly mediocre tenure of Chip Kelly, who didn’t exactly inspire the Bruins’ fan base while going 35-34 before he abruptly ditched the school on Feb. 9 for an assistant coaching job at Ohio State.

While the Bruins clearly will be rebuilding for the next few years, athletic director Martin Jarmond described the early impact of Big Ten football on the troubled football team as “very positive. We’ve had a bump in season ticket and single-game sales, so I’ve been really pleased to see just how our Bruins have responded.”

“On single-game (ticket) sales, that’s been a nice increase to see the level of interest from those other schools,” Jarmond added. “Indiana had a strong response and brought a big contingent out here. There’s a lot of interest in the Minnesota game. And then Iowa, that’s Homecoming and a Friday night game. From what I understand, they have added one or two Delta flights from Iowa direct to LA to help the Iowa contingent come to that game. Up and to this point from a year ago, it’s been much better.”

Indeed, getting from Cedar Rapids to Los Angeles has never been easier than it will be during the week of the Hawkeyes’ upcoming game in Pasadena.

More to come

The first few weeks of cross-country games are just the start — and it’s not just Midwesterners taking advantage of a reason to travel to the sunny West Coast, either.

Even Californians go on vacation, and a trip to Michigan’s famed Big House in September while the weather is still civil has proven awfully tempting: The USC Alumni Association sold out its travel package to Ann Arbor for this weekend.

The 2024 schedule is dotted with exciting cross-country matchups, and the 4,100-mile round trip from Bloomington, Indiana, to Pasadena isn’t even one of the longest on the slate.

Wisconsin visits USC at the historic Coliseum on Sept. 28, while the UW Huskies travel a whopping 5,650 miles round trip to face Rutgers. Michigan visits Husky Stadium the following week for a rematch of the national championship game.

One week later, Ohio State visits Oregon at Autzen Stadium in one of the highest-profile conference games of the season, while Penn State travels to USC. UCLA also will be on the road for a 5,500-mile trek to Piscataway, New Jersey.

Oregon visits Michigan on Nov. 2. One week later, Washington travels about 5,200 miles round-trip to face Penn State in the annual White Out game, while Maryland travels 5,650 miles round trip to visit the Ducks.

AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.

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