Ohio State national championship celebration underway at the Horseshoe
When Mahi Patel and Janki Patel arrived at Ohio Stadium at 6:45 a.m. to get in line for Sunday's National Championship celebration, there were already nine others in front of them.
The Patels, Ohio State students and cousins from Cleveland, followed the team with hopeful anticipation all season. Mahi Patel was lucky enough to score a student ticket to watch the Buckeyes compete against Notre Dame in Atlanta.
'No matter where the Buckeyes go, we show up,' Mahi Patel said. 'There was no other way I could've ended the season.'
Read More: Why Ohio State claims two national championships when not finishing No. 1 in AP poll
The two were among tens of thousands of Ohio State fans who flooded the stadium Sunday to celebrate the Buckeyes' most recent national title and their second earned as part of the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes won the first ever four-team playoff a decade ago and have now also won the first 12-team playoff.
Slated to start at noon, the gates for the celebration opened to fans at 10:30 a.m., but hundreds of people started lining up hours beforehand to get the best seats in the Shoe.
The event was free to attend and seating was available on a first come, first serve basis.
Mark Katona capped off 26 years as a redcoat volunteer at Sunday's celebration. He's was also in attendance at National Championship celebrations in 2002 and 2015.
Ohio State officials were estimating a crowd of at least 30,000, he said. But Katona guessed it could be closer to 50,000 thanks to slightly warmer weather Sunday.
'In 2002 there was a wind chill of 15 below, and there were at least this many people,' he said.
This is a developing story. Check back this afternoon for updates and photos.
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.
shendrix@dispatch.com
@sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Football national title celebration underway at the Shoe
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