Road trips are thought of by some as the greatest college tradition of all-time. Well, at least that’s what one of several taglines for the DreamWorks movie ‘Road Trip.’ That’s good enough reason for me to accept it as truth.

Seriously though, what better weekend than this one to pack a small duffle bag full of the major amenities and go on a road trip? Not only is the game only a little more than five hours away – one of Illinois’ closer away games this season – the game is one of the last chances to travel. If that’s not reason enough, here are five more.

1. The way the Illini have been playing on the road is reason enough to spend the money on gas. Besides the second game of the season against Rutgers, Illinois has been competitive in every away game this year, beating a heavily favored Michigan State team on its Homecoming and nearly knocking off Joe Paterno and Penn State last weekend.

In 2005, Illinois was outscored 183-45 on the road, going winless in five games. The Illini have gone from a joke to fairly decent on the road, winning one and keeping the combined score a close 46-32 since the embarrassment against Rutgers in New Jersey. Maybe Illinois has another Spartan-esque upset in them.

2. Illinois could meet its match in the ground battle this weekend. Brian Calhoun, Wisconsin’s star running back last year, left the team’s running game for dead when he declared early for the 2005 NFL draft after rushing for more than 1,600 yards and 22 scores. The Badgers’ running game should be relatively nonexistent, right? Wrong.

It appears redshirt freshman P.J. Hill recovered from the broken leg he suffered last year quite nicely. Hill is averaging more than 145 yards on the ground per game and is reminding some in college football of Ron Dayne, 1999’s Heisman Trophy winner. Although Illinois does not have one running back to solely depend on like Hill, both Rashard Mendenhall and Pierre Thomas are capable of having big days.

3. Support your team – it’s as simple as that. Sure, Badger fans might heckle you but they will respect your dedication. So-called Illini fans attend home games and stay until halftime. Fans are season ticket holders, attending every minute of every home game. But only true fans can say they travel with the team. Not only that, but the players love it. “Our fan base is loyal, we love them,” said sophomore offensive lineman Ryan McDonald. “We really appreciate it when they make it out to away games.”

4. Go just to witness the environment at Camp Randall Stadium. Stuff Magazine recently ranked Wisconsin’s football stadium No. 1 in the nation saying, “Not only do you get 60 regulation minutes of college football’s most hurtful expletives and hurtled debris, but you get an additional hour of tailgating as 40,000 strong stick around for the famed Fifth Quarter after each game.”

Memorial Stadium has been lacking a certain something in its first five home games. Oh yea, it’s called fans. This season, the Illini has yet to draw a large crowd, the average attendance a mere 41,300. That’s the lowest since 1998 when Memorial Stadium averaged 39,590. You might have forgotten what’s it’s like to attend a true Big Ten football game – there’s really nothing like it. The Illini saw it first hand in Beaver Stadium last weekend against Penn State.

5. If all else fails, Halloween is Wisconsin’s version of Unofficial and it should be experienced at least once before you graduate. Those foreign to the area, i.e. you, are also more than welcome. In recent years, an ever-growing number of out-of-state partiers are joining the tens of thousands that gather on State Street – UW-Madison’s version of Green Street.

At the peak of the 2005 party, an estimated 100,000 partiers were crammed onto the same street at once. According to Wikipedia between Friday and Saturday nights alone, 447 people were arrested, mostly for alcohol-related violations. Police decided to end the larger-scale Saturday night party around 2 a.m.

When more than 1,000 people remained, police ended the event with the use of riot gear, pepper spray, and tear gas for the fourth-consecutive year. What better way to spend your Halloween than getting pepper sprayed by some of Madison’s finest? According to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, the huge police presence at the party ultimately cost the city an estimated $750,000.

Not a bad weekend – and certainly deserving of a road trip.