For nine years, the women's gymnastics team was a part of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

And for nine years, the Lady Lions won the A-10 title.

But this year, the pattern will be disrupted.

Penn State has turned to the Big Ten, where it will look to establish the same legacy of dominance.

Seven Big Ten teams compete in women's gymnastics -- Minnesota (last year's champion), Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State and Penn State.

"I think it's great (that Penn State is joining)," Ohio State Coach Larry Cox said. "For years and years in this conference football and basketball have been able to recuit so well. The stronger this conference gets in our sport the better we can recruit as well."

Wisconsin dropped its women's gymnastics program after last season. The school's sports information department cited dwindling interest in gymnastics at both the high school and college levels, in addition to the expense of the sport, as reasons for its decision. The Badgers also dropped men's gymnastics, men's and women's fencing and baseball.

That move opened the door even further for Penn State.

"It was perfect timing," Cox said. "Unfortunately we lost a really, really good program. Penn State fulfills not only a number but a quality."

At last year's Big Ten Championships, Minnesota scored a record-breaking 189. Iowa was second with a 188.25 and Michigan third with a 188.

In comparison, Penn State blew away the competition at the Atlantic 10 Championships with a 189.65. West Virginia finished second in the seven-team field with a 186.55.

"It's going to be more challenging," Coach Judi Avener said. "The best teams in the Big Ten score higher than the best teams in the Atlantic 10 -- and there is more strength down the numbers.

"Not just the best teams, but the medium teams in the Big Ten are all stronger down the line."

"Now you can't have a bad meet and win," Cox added. "Last year Minnesota won the meet and they were probably about the fifth-strongest team in the league."

There is no round-robin conference play in gymnastics, but Penn State will host Ohio State on Feb. 15 and will travel to the IBM Invitational in Minneapolis the next weekend. The Invitational will feature the Lady Lions, Minnesota and UCLA. The Big Ten Championships will be held at Michigan State University on Mar. 27-28.

The Golden Gophers will also play host to the NCAA Championships on Apr. 24-25.

Although the Lady Lions have finally completed the conference transition, Penn State's Big Ten status didn't sink in until Avener first saw the Big Ten statistics with Penn State's name emblazoned in the top spot.

"It was the first time they handed me something from the Big Ten and it was an obvious comparison," Avener said. "Last year they handed us Big Ten stuff and we'd go, 'Oh, yeah, next year.' "