Penn State football weekend tabbed 'Greatest Show in College Sports'

University Park, Pa. -- The Penn State home football weekend tops the list of Sports Illustrated on Campus magazine's "102 More Things To Do Before Graduation," and Nittany Lion football coach Joe Paterno is on the cover of the Oct. 27 issue.

SI on Campus not only named Penn State the nation's top college football gameday location, but calls Penn State home football games "The Greatest Show In College Sports." The entire list of 102 items can be found at http://www.sioncampus.com online.

The honor is the second in the past three weeks for Penn State's loyal and enthusiastic fans. In voting conducted by SI.com, Penn State was selected the nation's premier college or professional football tailgating venue. Penn State defeated Texas, Washington and LSU to win the collegiate title and defeated the Buffalo Bills to capture the overall distinction as the nation's top tailgating location.

Penn State has one of the nation's most energetic and dedicated fan bases, with fans starting to arrive in their recreational vehicles as early as Thursday for home games. Beaver Stadium's capacity of 107,282 is the nation's second-largest and Penn State has been ranked in the top four in attendance in the nation for each of the past 14 years. A raucous crowd of 109,839 filled the stadium for the Nittany Lions' 17-10 win over Ohio State on Oct. 8, including more than 20,000 students dressed in white in order to "White Out" Ohio State.

Six days prior to the Ohio State clash, Penn State students began camping out just outside the stadium for the best seats for nationally televised primetime contest. "Paternoville" grew to more than 130 tents by gametime. Students began camping out Wednesday for this past Saturday's Homecoming game with Purdue.

The Nittany Lions (8-1, 5-1), ranked No. 7 in the BCS poll, will look to remain atop the Big Ten standings as they play host to Wisconsin (8-1, 5-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ABC Sports will televise the contest to a regional audience. The game also can be heard on the Penn State Sports Network and http://www.GoPSUsports.com online.