Very few, if any, preseason prognosticators believe that anybody other than Ohio State is going to win the Big Ten football crown this fall. The Buckeyes were supposed to be in a rebuilding mode in 2007 but went on to win the conference title for the second straight year and made an appearance in the national championship game.

On paper, Ohio State should be even better this fall. But that certainly hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm at Penn State for the upcoming season. On Aug. 1, PSU announced that due to unprecedented demand for tickets, the 22nd ranked Nittany Lions will playing before sellout crowds in all seven home games this season.

For the second consecutive year, more than 93,500 season tickets have been purchased. More than 15,000 student season tickets for freshmen, sophomores and juniors sold out in approximately three minutes after going on sale in June. According to Bud Meredith, Director of Ticket Operations, 99 percent of current season ticket holders renewed their seats for the 2008 season.

It all means that the Lions will almost certainly lead the nation in home attendance this fall because Beaver Stadium is, temporarily, the nation’s largest facility with a capacity of 107,282. The perennial No. 1 – Michigan Stadium – will lose about 1,500 seats and will hold just 106,201 this season due to a renovation project, but will eventually gain an additional 5,000 by the time it is finished by 2010.

Don’t look for Penn State to heavily publicize its brief stay atop the attendance race. Beaver Stadium could fall to No. 3 in the next few years as Tennessee is also planning to increase capacity of Neyland Stadium. – NEIL GEOGHEGAN