A revolution is fermenting among the women's swim teams of the Big Ten -- a revolution that is bent on overthrowing a dynasty.

Michigan has reigned atop the Big Ten for more than a decade. Under coach Jim Richardson's regime, the Wolverines have won the conference title every year since 1987. Since that time they are 63-6 in dual conference meets, a .913 winning percentage.

With a Big Ten women's-record 11 straight conference championships under its belt, Michigan will be the favorite in this weekend's Big Ten Championship at Bloomington, Ind.

A 12th title would just add to the record.

"We've all put in the work, we're swimming fast, everyone's ready and we should be fine," Michigan senior swimmer Talor Bendel told the Michigan Daily Tuesday. "The main thing is to have fun this weekend and hopefully it should pay off. We want to bring back our 12th in a row."

Michigan is ranked No. 6 in the Speedo American coaches' poll, but four other Big Ten teams are also in the top 25. Minnesota is No. 10, Northwestern is No. 16, Wisconsin is No. 17 and Illinois is No. 22.

Penn State will look to improve on last season's 11th-place finish in the Big Ten. Penn State's (7-4, 2-4 Big Ten) conference losses all came against top 25 teams. The Lady Lions stayed very close to both Michigan and Minnesota but did worse against Wisconsin and Illinois.

"We want to show everybody that we can do this," Penn State assistant coach Fran McDermid said. "I think we have some individuals that can really make some impact."

The way the Big Ten Championship is structured, a team could theoretically lose all its conference meets in the regular season and then come into the championships, do well and come out in first place.

Theoretically.

In other words, the regular season doesn't matter, but this weekend's performance does.

Michigan: If the regular season or the past is any indication of how a team will do in the championships, Michigan (9-0, 6-0) looks like the top team once again. Michigan has great depth and is the only Big Ten team this season to win all its meets.

Minnesota: Minnesota (7-1, 3-1) is the team with the best chance to dethrone Michigan. Coach Jean K. Freeman said her team had its best season ever and it wants to do well at the Big Ten Championship because it will host the NCAA Championships in March. Minnesota's only loss came against Michigan, by one point.

Minnesota will be led by senior backstroker Gretchen Hegener. Hegener is the defending NCAA champion in the 100-yard backstroke. She split Swimmer of the Year honors at last year's Big Ten championship in Indianapolis.

Wisconsin: Another solid team. Wisconsin (10-2, 5-2) is as strong as Northwestern but defeated the Lady Wildcats 148-93 this season. The team could finish in the top three this year.

Northwestern: This team (7-5, 4-2) is hungry for first place, but may have to settle for top five.

Illinois: Illinois (9-3, 4-2) will probably round out the top five, but could pull up higher if it outperforms equally strong Northwestern and Wisconsin.

After these top teams, the remaining field will be in a close shoot-out for the lower places. Penn State and Iowa should finish ahead of Purdue and host Indiana.

Ohio State and Michigan State, which have just one conference win between them, will most likely round out the final pair of spots.

Of course, any team could finish first -- theoretically.