This Sunday, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, plowing straight down the middle of State College along the way.

In an unlikely scenario that has occurred twice in four years, both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles will be among the final four teams in the race to NFL's biggest game.

With its perfect middleman position, State College is now a hotbed for fans of both teams who are already organizing several parties for the occasion.

"I'm planning on getting together with a lot of Steelers fans to watch the game," Blake Schmitt (freshman-business administration) said. "I think we'll have the better game this championship weekend because you have the defending champs playing the Steelers, and that will be really exciting."

Schmitt is referring to the fact that the Steelers are playing the New England Patriots, winners of two out of the last three Super Bowls.

Tom Yost (sophomore-architectural engineering) said he would like to see both the Steelers and the Eagles win their games.

"I'm hoping that the Steelers win so we can see an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl and because I think New England has had too much luck this past year with both the [Boston] Red Sox and the Patriots winning championships."

While Yost plans on cheering for both Pennsylvania squads, his loyalty lies within the City of Brotherly Love.

"I think that the Eagles are due to win," Yost said. "We've already had three straight years in the NFC Championship game so the fourth should be the charm."

While many of the parties Sunday may be biased towards one team or the other, State College area restaurants and bars will not be playing favorites.

"We have nothing specific set up for either side and we are planning to cater to the fans of both teams," said Sean Grove, general manager of Damon's Grill, 1031 E. College Ave.

He added that he believes the overall mood of the restaurant will be an excessively festive one this weekend.

"We'll have both games on all of our screens so it should be a great atmosphere," Grove said. "We have employees that are fans on both sides that will be wearing their jerseys and we all get into it, so it should be a lot of fun."

Although State College has been a particular hot spot this year for football fanatics on both sides of the state -- especially since the Steelers' 27-3 win over the Eagles in early November -- Schmitt said he does not believe in the whole Pittsburgh/Philadelphia rivalry.

"People try to make it into a kind of competition between the teams, but none of us really care about each other," he said. "Still, it would be exciting in State College if both teams were to go to the Super Bowl."

Grove would like to see both squads succeed just to witness the scene in his restaurant.

"We're all excited as a staff because we all have affiliation one way or another and everyone wants both of these teams to win because the atmosphere for the Super Bowl would be tremendous," he said.

Still, as wonderful as an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl may sound to a lot of fans, in the event of one-half of that scenario not happening, Yost said he would rescind his Pittsburgh support.

"If for some reason [the Eagles] should lose, I'll still watch the Steelers game because I would want them to lose as well," he said.