Cross-country road trips begin in 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.

A big contingent of Southern California fans will invade Ann Arbor, Mich., 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.

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 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.”

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.