Don’t Hate Me. I’m an SEC Girl Living in B1G Country.

Full disclosure. I’m a Mississippi State Bulldog living smack in the middle of Penn State country. I love it here. Happy Valley is home. But every now and then, the SEC girl in me comes out.

And apparently she opened a store.

I didn’t really think about it when I opened Town Pride State College, but there are definitely some Southern gameday tendencies that made their way north with me.

For starters, I think gameday should be a little pretty. Now at MSU, we don’t go “Ole Miss all out,” but it can get pretty bougie. We don’t need to go back to dresses on the girls and bow ties on the guys. But I mean, c’mon: it’s an occasion.

It definitely shows up in what I buy for Town Pride. I don’t curate our Penn State collection just because something says Penn State. I want the sweater I’d buy without the logo. The really good hat. The sweatshirt that’s just a little different. 

Penn State is a special place. Penn Staters are special people. And I want to help Penn State do its thing. Be its best. Maybe I’m just bringing a little bit of my world into this one.

The funny thing is, the longer I’ve lived here, the less different the two worlds feel. Mississippi State has cowbells and the Junction. Penn State has WE ARE and the tailgate fields around Beaver Stadium. Both fan bases are just crazy enough about their schools to make all of it seem completely normal.

Although I will say this: September football in Mississippi and November football in Pennsylvania are not the same thing.

I’m still a Bulldog. Always will be. But Happy Valley is home.

So yes, there’s a little SEC in Town Pride.

Now you know why.