After another winning season that included a notable victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes, the ISU football team is preparing to play in their third straight bowl game — the Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho.

But as the football team prepares to make the 1,200-mile trip, some student fans are staying home.

In the past couple years, many thousands of Cyclone fans have traveled across the country to cheer on the team, said Trevor Helmers, junior in psychology.

Helmers attended both last year’s Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., and the Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix in 2000, but said he is unable to attend this year.

“The experience was so much fun, it was entirely worth the trip,” Helmers said. “The first year I went down with the band, and last year I decided to head down with a big group of my friends because we had such a great time the previous year.”

Although his friends decided not to make the trip this year due to various reasons, Helmers said he still would love to be able to head to the game.

“We just can’t do it this year for many reasons — it just hasn’t worked out,” he said. “The destination being Boise didn’t add too much motivation. Aside from that, just being there would have been worth it.

“I wish we could have planned it better,” he continued.

Helmers said he thinks fewer people will go to this year’s game because it takes place on New Year’s Eve and people generally want to head away from more cold weather.

Though the numbers are unclear thus far, plenty of fans are already getting out their cardinal and gold for the big game.

Mark Hansen, senior in electrical engineering, is one of those fans.

“I have never been to a bowl game before, but I am really looking forward to this year,” Hansen said. “A bunch of us just decided to drive down since we had so much fun following the team this season.”

Hansen said he plans to drive west with friends a few nights before and stay at a hotel in Boise. He said they’ll probably head back after the game to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Iowa.

Students can buy tickets for $35 each beginning at 8 a.m. Friday at the Hilton Ticket Office.