One of collegiate sports' most prominent conferences is participating in a special kind of competition for the second straight year.

Blood drives don't usually see many college students, but that could be changing as all 18 Big Ten schools compete for the most blood donations.

"I was actually a first-time donor this year, which I was so so happy about," said Penn State student Olivia Scott.

Scott, 20, is a junior and a student ambassador for the health care company Abbott, who is sponsoring the Big Ten's "We Give Blood Drive," and donating $1 million to the winning school.

"I think we should win. We have a very competitive spirit on campus," Scott said. "The thing about Penn State is, it's such a community school that once people hear about something that can help people, everyone gets on board, and the responses have been great."

Rutgers is also encouraging a new generation of donors, aiming to ease the national blood supply shortage as the Red Cross has declared a critical blood emergency.

"Our country's in dire need of more blood and one blood donation can save up to three lives, which when I heard that, it kind of like made me realize how important this is." Scott said.

The Red Cross says someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds.

Rhiannon Costanzo is a Penn State student who received blood transfusions as a newborn. She's among millions of people who are helped by blood donors.

"It's absolutely amazing. It saved my life. I'm so grateful to them," Costanzo said. "And it's like a big family effort to save people. And I think it's amazing."

This is the second year of the competition that's collecting donations from students, staff and alumni from each school. Last year it attracted 20,000 donors, with the University of Nebraska collecting the most and winning.

The "We Give Blood Drive" runs through Dec. 5.