When Iowa and Ohio State crashed the Final Four at last year's NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, it marked something of a new era in the collegiate game.

The women's tourney has long been the domain of a select few conferences. The Pac-10 and SEC alone account for seven national titles, while the current members of the Southwest and Sun Belt conferences lay claim to the other five.

But the '93 Final Four proved that quality women's hoops could be found outside of California and the Deep South. And anyone who thought last season was a fluke need only take a look at the '94 bracket, which features five Big Ten teams, two of which are No. 1 seeds.

The Big Ten has arrived in women's college basketball.

"We're very, very happy for our conference," Penn State Coach Rene Portland said. "To have two seeds as a No. 1 is very exciting. I think our conference has proven a lot to a lot of people."

Portland's Lady Lions (25-2), top-seeded in the Midwest region, lead the Big Ten onslaught into the Big Dance. Purdue (25-4) finished the regular season as conference co-champs, along with Penn State, and was rewarded with the top seed in the West. The conference representation is rounded out by Iowa (20-6), the Midwest's No. 3 seed; Minnesota (17-10), No. 10 in the East; and Indiana (19-8), the No. 12 seed in the Mideast.

"This league is tough," Hoosier Coach Jim Izard said. "We were hoping that we'd get six seeds, but it's tough to get 20-game winners with the round-robin play."

The toughness that Izard spoke of, undoubtedly a key in getting the conference its five bids, is also likely to come in handy once the tourney gets underway. Unlike the SEC, where perennial powers battle each other only once in league play, the Big Ten squads run into each other twice.

"I'm sure the tough conference season has prepared us," said Dennis LaBissoniere, Big Ten information services director. "The two No. 1 seeds shows that our teams are doing a really credible job. We're starting to perform up to what some of the other conferences have set."

If the Big Ten has a leg up on the storied Southeastern Conference in terms of regular season scheduling, the SEC teams still have one undeniable advantage: they've won the big one.

"I don't think it's fair to say the Big Ten is on the same level until we start winning some championships," Boilermaker Coach Lin Dunn said. "But I think we're making great strides."

For Dunn and the rest of the Big Ten coaches, the goal is to follow in the footsteps left by the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes and stride right into the Final Four. Of course, they'd like to take that last step to the title game as well.

"I think last year's Final Four was a watershed," LaBissoniere said. "I'm not in the prediction business, that's for sure. But we're hopeful."