This is not a sports blog… but if your college has a winning football team you know it can influence a large portion of your college experience. How does this tie into college spending and finances? Hang with me and I’ll explain.

In a matter of weeks you will know your school’s bowl destiny. Is your school good enough to make it to a BCS bowl this year? If so you are very lucky. Maybe your team will only be invited to the PapaJohns.com bowl in Alabama. (Yes that is a real bowl)

Either way, if you are a hardcore fan you are going to want to make that trip to watch your team. Planning a trip to LA to see the Rose bowl can be significantly more expensive than going to Detroit to see the Motor City bowl, but if you follow some universal tips you can make any bowl trip affordable, and still a lot of fun.

Here are some tips you can follow so that you can follow your team to glory…

1) Look for travel packages through your university. Your college will have a certain number of tickets available at a discounted rate or free. If you don’t have to pay for the tickets it makes the trip much less expensive.

2)See if your school has any deals worked out with local hotels near the stadium. If not, look for hotels near the closest airport. Airport hotels are usually cheaper and geared towards professional travelers.

3)Shack up with as many of your friends as possible. Splitting the room fees between 4 people will make a huge difference in your overall total spendings.

4)Eat/drink cheaply. I will never recommend fast food because of the lack of nutrition, but there are plenty of restaurants where you can get a full meal for about 10 dollars. Sports bars are a great place to get a burger for about $6 bucks.

5)If you are over 21 remember these three words- Cheap Domestic Beer.

6)Don’t buy souvenirs at the stadium. These items will always be marked up. Buy your commemorative t-shirts and hats online when you get home or from a street vendor. You are very unlikely to wear this t-shirt more than a handful of times. Especially if your team loses.