It could be the toughest conference in the nation today. Top to bottom, it has the crème de la crème.

This is the Big Ten conference and this conference has four ranked teams in the top 14 nationally for men's track, according to the Team Power Rankings.

"In the Big Ten, anyone is good," Penn State men's track and field coach Harry Groves said. "It is so good that as a coach it's scary."

This weekend, the men's Big Ten Indoor Championships begins and for every team in the Big Ten, this is when the season really starts because everything the squads have worked for is on the line.

Last week the Nittany Lions didn't have a meet, but instead had intense practice sessions.

This week, practice was turned down a notch to let the athletes recuperate.

"In indoor track, it is really difficult to keep your team healthy," Groves said. "Colds, illnesses have been the biggest problems we have had all year. We don't have the depth we've had [on previous teams]."

Because of the lack of depth, Penn State has had to place athletes on short notice in events that they are not accustomed to and that practice will continue this weekend.

Top performers this season for the Lions have been Ernie Terrell and Matt Lincoln.

Terrell has an NCAA provisional mark in the 200-meters with a time of 21.21 seconds, which is also the second-best time posted this season in the Big Ten.

He will be called on to participate in at least three events at the championships.

Lincoln also has an NCAA provisional mark with a time of 1:48.83 in the 800-meters.

The Lions are concerned about the track at Michigan and feel that its tight turns will slow the athletes down.

Despite all this, the championships should be sizzling as it has top-notch athletes from start to finish.

"All the way down the line, there is super quality," Groves said.

-- By Nkrumah Makinwa