Some are distracted by the scent of quick cash and turn around and sell them to the highest bidder. Others wouldn't think of unloading them.

"No way am I going to sell my ticket. I'm a huge fan," said Lauren Deerhake, 20, a mechanical engineering major from Texas. "Ohio State is the only college I wanted to go to. I'm paying out-of-state fees to be a Buckeye."

Deerhake and her roommate plan to fly to Houston and drive to New Orleans, where they will stay with a friend of Deerhake's mother.

Not far away, Dan Harker, 55, of Columbus, and his son-in-law offered students $400 for their tickets.

"We've arranged airfare and the hotel. All we need are the tickets to the game," Harker said. "If we're not lucky in Columbus, we'll buy tickets off a scalper in New Orleans."

Harker and his family have made a tradition of going to Ohio State's bowl games. Six family members plan to go to New Orleans, including four Ohio State alums.

"Ohio State football is like a secular religion," said Harker's son-in-law, Dave Michalski, 28, of Midland, Mich.

Dan Keene, 59, of suburban Columbus, said he had missed only four Ohio State home games since 1966.

"Heck, if I can get tickets and they don't cost too much, why not?" said Keene, a 1971 Ohio State graduate.

Everyone has a limit, however.

"One kid wanted $1,400," Keene said. "That's ridiculous. They're going for about $600 on eBay and Craigslist and keep dropping every day."

Allison Heck, a 19-year-old business major from New Philadelphia, sold her ticket on Facebook for $700 because she was worried about getting behind in her classes, which start Jan. 3.