No. 1 and No. 2. Does it get any tougher than that?

The Penn State field hockey team already battled against the fourth and eighth best teams in the country, in Wake Forest and James Madison respectively, on back-to-back days. The No. 6 Nittany Lions will face No. 2 Michigan (14-1, 5-0 Big Ten) at 4 p.m. today and No. 1 Old Dominion (14-2, 7-0 Colonial Athletic Association) at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be played in the friendly confines of Bigler Field.

This weekend is arguably the toughest slate of games the Lions have faced this season. Today's game provides Penn State the opportunity to take away the Wolverines' chance at an outright Big Ten championship. Sunday's game will showcase the all-time wins leader against the fourth all-time wins leader in Old Dominion head coach Beth Anders and Penn State head coach Char Morett. Morett also spent four years as an assistant to Anders, so Sunday's game will offer up a little friendly rivalry.

"All three of us are really fit teams," Penn State senior back Kelly Concini said. "Someone's always going to be running, someone's always going to be putting pressure on because they're going to have the legs and the endurance."

The Lady Monarchs come into this weekend fresh off their biggest win of the season over then-No. 1 Maryland. The Terps spent six weeks in the top spot of the polls before being dropped 1-0 led by a goal from the nation's second-leading scorer, junior forward Angie Loy. ODU has also already captured its seventh CAA regular season title with 51 straight conference wins.

With the Wolverines already laying claim to at least a share of the regular-season Big Ten championship, the Lions have their work cut out for them. A win for Michigan means securing the regular-season conference title, the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, and a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament.

"When [Michigan] beat Michigan State, Michigan State kind of opened the door for us and now we have the chance and it's in our hands," Concini said. "We can go into this game thinking we play hard, we win this game, we share the title."

One advantage Penn State has for this weekend is a day of rest between the two contests. Before Sunday's game, ODU will only have had one night of rest after playing Michigan on Saturday.

Morett is preparing her team to be ready to switch gears quickly.

"Both teams play very different styles," Morett said. "[Today]'s game is going to be a quicker, more aggressive style of play. Both teams are outstanding teams."

Michigan has a stifling defense on top of its powerful offense, allowing only 10 goals through 15 games.