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How to get to the Big Ten championship on a budget

December 3, 2015

So you snagged your Big Ten championship tickets and you’re officially heading to Indianapolis.

The game against the Iowa Hawkeyes starts at 8:17 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium. With just 260 miles to Indianapolis, driving is your best option to get there.



Regular fuel costs about $1.86 per gallon, so the cost of driving in an average car will be about $38 round trip.

Packaging junior Kyle Turnbull said he’s driving to Indianapolis on Saturday because going with friends makes the trip even more inexpensive.

“I am driving myself and a group of guys,” Turnbull said. “The idea of carpooling is obviously cheaper. (We’re) just packing as many people as we can.”

Unlike Turnbull, some students bought tickets without prior planning. Packaging senior Cody Wolfrom said he bought his ticket right away without an exact plan to get to the game.

“I just knew that we’re going and it’s my senior year and I have to go,” Wolfrom said. “I bought a ticket and figured I’ll get the rest of the details later.”

He said he will either take a party bus with his girlfriend’s sorority or just drive down with some friends.

“If you get enough people on a party bus, it could be pretty economical, but if it’s only half full it can be pretty expensive,” he said.

Because the game is at night, students have also been considering whether or not to stay the night in Indianapolis.

Wolfrom said he looked at staying in the city, but decided against it because the rooms were too expensive.

“We were looking at hotels around the area and they’re all about $400 a room,” he said.

But others who have friends or families in the area are taking advantage of them. Computer engineering sophomore Brian Jean said he’s staying with family outside of Indianapolis after the game to make the weekend cheaper.

“I’ll probably be traveling with a group of people so that’s cheaper than filling up my own gas tank and staying with family makes it easier too,” Jean said.

Another option for students would be to drive outside the city and stay in one of the suburbs before coming home. 

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