The Penn State men's golf team is looking to capture its 13th consecutive Rutherford Intercollegiate title when it hosts the tournament today and tomorrow at Penn State's own par 72, 6,545-yard Blue Course.

At last year's tournament, the Nittany Lions smashed the previous team record of 859 by posting a 12-under par 852, eight strokes lower than second-place finisher Liberty University.

In addition, then-senior and 2003 All-Big Ten golfer Jim Fuller finished second in the individual competition, firing rounds of 71, 67 and 69 for a three-round total score of 207.

Another Rutherford victory would be ideal for the team as it moves on to the Big Ten Championship tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich., next week.

Penn State finished 10th in the 11-team conference last year held at the Indiana University Golf Course.

That should not be the case this year, as the Lions have continuously proven their ability to come back when it truly matters. The Lions rode a final-round 293 to lift them to a seventh-place finish at the St. Croix Collegiate Classic and did it again the following month, using a third-round 288 to capture sixth-place at the Marshall Invitational.

However, the competition this weekend will not reflect the quality of the teams that the Lions will be facing in Ann Arbor. The entirety of the Big Ten, aside from Penn State, will be warming up for the conference championships at the Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich.

Instead, No. 62 Penn State will be facing the likes of No. 147 James Madison, No. 156 Akron and No. 158 Liberty as opposed to No. 8 Minnesota, No. 45 Purdue and No. 47 Illinois.

While the field will not be as strong this week, playing at home against less-grueling competition may be exactly what the Lions need to get back to the form they displayed in the fall when the team won three consecutive tournaments.

After the Big Ten Championships, Penn State will be at the University of Oklahoma for the Maxwell Intercollegiate Tournament May 15-16 before heading to New Haven, Conn., later that week for the NCAA East Regional tournament.