Since the crew from ESPN's College GameDay brought its traveling road show to Happy Valley last month, all three members of the show have said the atmosphere and turnout for the live taping before Penn State's game against Ohio State was one of the best they had ever seen.

They may be counting on Penn State fans to carry the show again when they travel to East Lansing, Mich., for tomorrow's game between Penn State and Michigan State.

"We try to take each show differently. Sometimes you can rely on a tremendous atmosphere at the home campus," host Chris Fowler said. "We don't know what to expect. Frankly, we've never had GameDay at a 5-5 team."

Michigan State's record made it a somewhat surprising choice to host the show, and there has been speculation that a lack of interest in the game might hurt the turnout for GameDay, but Fowler said the crew is hoping for a large turnout from traveling Penn State fans.

"If you have more people in blue and white than green and white, so be it," Fowler said. "It will be interesting. It would be quite an undertaking to actually do that."

Fowler said a number of Penn State fans who make the trip to East Lansing will be featured on GameDay during the show's opening segment, when he goes out into the crowd.

Normally, the show's introduction includes a panoramic view of the crowd, but despite the urgings of East Lansing media, the crew is not counting on a strong turnout and is prepared to use other techniques to make the show work.

"We'll construct a show that isn't going to play to the crowd as much," Fowler said. "Maybe if it's not a big crowd, we'll have to feature Penn State fans more."

Even Penn State fans who can't make it to East Lansing are being encouraged to play a part in the weekend.

Penn State Director of Branding and Communications Guido D'Elia has done everything possible this week to try to keep students involved, even though the team is traveling.

He's encouraging students to send the team off to Michigan by lining Hastings Road at University Drive, near the Lasch Football Building.

Win or lose, the athletic department is also planning a welcome-back event at Rec Hall following Saturday night's women's volleyball game.

How many Penn State fans plan on making the trip is unknown, but Fowler, who went to middle school in the State College area, reiterated that he was impressed with the fervor of the Penn State fan base when he returned to Happy Valley earlier this year.

"The impression that I had strongest out of [the Ohio State] game was the student section. It's the best student section in the country," Fowler said. "I'd never seen anything like that. The sheer numbers -- it just dwarfs anywhere else in the country. Notre Dame was always kind of the standard, but we were at Notre Dame the week after, and I was still just blown away by Penn State."