Glendale, Ariz., and Champaign, Ill., are separated by about 1,400 miles. While Pittsburgh is significantly closer to the University of Illinois than Arizona, it’s still quite the jaunt from campus.

With the Super Bowl XLIII contestants hailing from opposite ends of the country, most local football fans don’t have a favorite team playing for the Lombardi Trophy this year. This begs the question – do University students really care about the game?

Anand Oroskar does. A lifelong Steelers fan, the senior in Engineering is thrilled to see his beloved team make the Super Bowl for the second time in four years.

“I’m overjoyed,” Oroskar said. “It’s a different feeling from last time, but I’m happy to be rooting for a great team.”

Not everyone shares Oroskar’s excitement, though. When the Bears reached the big game two years ago, there was a buzz of sorts around campus because many students are Chicago-area natives. Even last year, there was an aura of suspense and drama for true football fans, as the New England Patriots attempted to become just the second undefeated team in NFL history.

But it’s a different story this season. As the Steelers have methodically marched to Tampa, Fla., the Cardinals are aiming to become the worst team ever to win an NFL Championship, based on regular season winning percentage. As much as the media may play up a rivalry between Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt and his former team, there is little controversy or bad blood heading into Sunday’s contest.

All this leaves many on campus less excited than in the past, or confused altogether, as to who is playing this weekend.

“The Cardinals and somebody else,” said Martin Hoppe, a freshman in Engineering, when asked about Sunday’s contestants.

Some couldn’t even get half the answer correct.

“No, I don’t know,” Michelle Anderson, a senior in LAS said. “(I’ll watch) probably at a Super Bowl party. You get all the party food and party drinking that goes along with the Super Bowl, so that’s lots of fun. It’s nice to get a big group of people together.”

With true Steeler and Cardinal fans seemingly few and far between on campus, it’s not easy being a displaced fan in the Midwest for people like Oroskar.

“A lot of people dislike the Steelers,” Oroskar said. “It’s the ‘nobody-loves-Goliath’ mentality. I feel a lot of people are rooting for the Cardinals.”

Just as the Cardinals have embraced their underdog role this postseason, many casual fans around campus tend to embrace the desert dwellers as well. Whether it’s 37-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner being reborn in a prolific passing attack, or the various flea-flickers run by Arizona, previously neutral fans tend to find something to like in the guys from Arizona.

“I’d kind of like to see the Cardinals win,” Kyle Blaze, a sophomore in media studies, said. “They haven’t won a championship since 1947. The (underdog) role is in the nature of the sports fan. It’s an us-against-the-world type of thing.”

Even those without any interest in the game are in luck. Lindsey Rapinchuk, freshman in LAS, sounded unsure of whether she will be watching the Super Bowl, until the always-hyped commercial lineup was brought up.

“I kind of want to watch it now just for the commercials,” Rapinchuk said. “Everyone pulls out all the stops and they’re really entertaining.”

Regardless of whether students have a rooting interest in the game, Oroskar recommends tuning in.

“It’s going to be pretty exciting,” Oroskar said. “The Cardinals are a really good offensive team, they have a lot of weapons. The Steelers have played a lot of tough defenses and … can use their experience.”