Everyone is talking about March Madness on the hardwood. How about some March Madness in the pool?

Today through Saturday, the nation's best collegiate women swimmers and divers converge in Indianapolis to see who are the big fish in one of the biggest ponds in the world. Three Penn State swimmers want to be right there at the top of the NCAA Championships.

Juniors Regan Stacey and Deni Rudy, veterans of last year's championships, will join freshman Julie Krail in Indianapolis. Stacey will compete in the 200, 500 and 1,650-yard freestyle events, and Rudy will swim the 50 and 100 freestyle races. Breaststroker Krail will appear in her first NCAA Championship event, swimming the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

These championships will be Rudy's third and Stacey's second as competing against the best in the country is becoming routine for these two.

"The first time was a new experience," Stacey said. "Now I feel more under control and know what to expect."

This is not the first time that a Penn State freshman has gone to the NCAAs with older teammates. Rudy and Sarah Duttera went to the championships as freshmen.

The Lady Lions could have had more swimmers at NCAAs, but thanks to swimming's measuring stick -- minutes and seconds -- they will not. The 200 freestyle relay team had an NCAA consideration time at the Big Ten Championships, however, the time was not fast enough. One of the members of that relay team, Trina Sullivan, will still be rooting for her teammates who did make the NCAA cut.

"I don't feel bad," the junior said. "I'm happy with what I did -- I had a decent meet at Big Tens. For our program to be represented at NCAAs is very exciting."

Coach Bob Krimmel, who has seen more than a few NCAA Championships, is expecting steady improvement from his swimmers. But all the practice time between Big Tens and NCAAs might not make a difference when the nation's best swimmers are involved.

"I've learned that you really have no clue what to expect," he said. "We'll go and be ready to swim. The bottom line is to improve our times from Big Tens. The goal is getting better at our events, if we do that, the placing will take care of itself."

Krimmel has plenty of reasons to be confident that the swimmers will improve their times. The championships are being held in the same natatorium which hosted the Big Ten Championships; Rudy and Stacey can act as "big sisters" to Krail; and the Big Ten is one of the top conferences in the nation.

"Without a doubt, the Big Ten has prepared us extremely well to go into a meet like this, especially with so many Big Ten swimmers here," Krimmel said. "One coach from a school in an eastern conference told me that (Penn State) has as many swimmers here as he had from his conference. Our kids are better prepared than they ever have been before."