Quiz time! The format is multiple choice, and here's the question: Why aren't the members of the Lady Lion basketball team, the newly-christened Best Team In The Land, absolutely ecstatic about their new No. 1 ranking?

A. It hasn't sunk in yet.

B. The honor is just too monumental to comprehend.

C. They're cocky, ungrateful and couldn't care less.

D. None of the above.

If you chose D, congratulations, because you've been doing your reading. Specifically, you've read ahead in the Lady Lions schedule, where it's pretty obvious why Penn State doesn't have much time to get excited about its new ranking. With road games looming against a pair of top 20 teams, Coach Rene Portland and her squad have more on their minds than some silly ranking. They've got things in perspective.

"We're proud of it," junior Shelby Thayer said from Columbus, Ohio, where Penn State will take on No. 17 Ohio State tonight before moving on to No. 9 Vanderbilt on Thursday. "But we can't make it that big of a deal. We have to get these road games out of the way."

The Lady Lions, the lone undefeated team in Division I after losses by Tennessee and Iowa last week, assumed the No. 1 ranking for the first time since the 1990-91 season. It's an honor and a privilege, to be sure, but one that won't be savored anytime soon.

In the mean time, the meat of the conference schedule stares Penn State in the face. Portland has maintained all year that the top priority for the Lady Lions is a Big Ten Championship, and she's holding to that dogma even in the face of the team's new ranking.

"The Big Ten is our focus," Portland said. "Our goal is to win the Big Ten title. We need to pick up this game at Ohio State."

So the Lady Lions prepare to tackle the biggest week of their season, wearing their new ranking like a gawdy but expensive necklace. It dangles dubiously, attracting the envy of all the contenders, just waiting to be snatched away by someone in the right place, at the right time. Its owners, for now, hope to divert the jealous glances and keep their own minds off their new bauble.

"We can't let it go to our heads. We're just going to try and block it out," junior Katina Mack said. "I really don't care about the polls."

Good thing. There's work to be done.