Clichés are a standard feature of the sports lexicon, but never more than when referring to No. 1 teams.

By now, Rene Portland has heard them all.

The coach of the undefeated and top-ranked women's basketball team, Portland has put her Lady Lions atop the polls and kept them there for a week. In that short time, the clichés have popped up, predictably and unavoidably, all addressing the pressures and challenges of being the best team around.

It's lonely at the top.

Lonely when you spend the first week of your reign on the road, jaunting from Ann Arbor to Columbus to Nashville in a five-day stint. It wasn't until last Sunday, when the team finally returned to Rec Hall, that Portland recognized the effect the travel and pressure had on her team

"I felt that playing four games in seven days really showed its ugly head," Portland said after the Lady Lions 73-53 victory against Wisconsin on Sunday. "When you're on the road, like we were, you practice and get ready for the next game, and you really don't take care of yourself."

When you're No. 1, everybody's gunning for you.

The Lady Lions were the preseason No. 1 pick in the Big Ten, so they're not unfamiliar with the concept of being everybody's target. Portland maintains that since her primary goal is to win the Big Ten, the newfound national attention won't sideline her squad.

"We just are very, very fortunate to be in such a great conference," Portland said. "The focus is on our conference, and that really puts everything else in its place. Should we survive this conference, then we will survive everything else."

The bigger they are . . .

As if being Public Enemy No. 1 isn't pressure enough, the Lady Lions have to worry about not losing momentum, not "peaking too soon." In a season that's been one big winning streak for Penn State, the fear of a mighty fall may likely linger in the back of the Lady Lions' minds. But Portland, ever-confident, claims her team can handle it.

"Should it happen, you just regroup and get yourself in order," Portland said. "We practice being the hunted. You really have to keep your composure."

So let the clichés fly, Portland and company will field them all. But if the Lady Lions need any help, Wisconsin Coach Mary Murphy offered her support after her Badgers lost on Sunday. Murphy, victim No. 16 on the year, faced a predictable question of her own. Now that you've seen 'em, Coach, does this team deserve to be No. 1?

"Absolutely," Murphy said. "They're undefeated, they've played some tough teams, they've got a lot of tough teams to go play. But they got my vote, even though I don't vote. They'd have another one if I did."