Eclipse expected to be a winner at Saluki Stadium

(STATS) - Saluki Stadium will be packed at Southern Illinois University on Monday afternoon, but don't go looking for a football practice.

You'd be left in the dark.

The city of Carbondale, where SIU is located, is a prime viewing spot for the first total eclipse to sweep across the continental United States since 1918.

The path of total darkness, known as totality, will run through Carbondale, a city of about 26,000 residents located in the southwest corner of the state near the Missouri border. An estimated 60,000 people are expected to descend upon it for the eclipse.

The 7-year-old Saluki Stadium will host one of the prime viewing parties, with lighting to be turned out when the moon blocks the sun, which is projected at 1:21 p.m. local time. NASA will host a 4½-hour living broadcast from outside the stadium.

"Mother nature dropped this right in our lap," Carbondale Mayor John "Mike" Henry said told Time.com. "There isn't anything else we could possibly do to bring this many folks to Carbondale."