As the No. 17 Penn State women's swimming team headed south to Auburn, Ala., to face the No. 2 Auburn Tigers and a number of other schools, it was not to be a part of a showdown that might occur if Joe Paterno led his team into the same setting.

The swimming at the Auburn Invitational -- a three-day, six-session meet -- will provide the most challenging competition of the season.

Auburn aside, the Nittany Lions will have the opportunity to swim against the squads of the University of South Carolina and No. 14 Virginia, to whom they previously lost to in an October meet.

A 181-108 victory against West Chester on Nov. 23 brought the Lions' record to 3-1, but records have taken a backseat to the team's developmental approach all season.

This is exactly what separates this meet from the showdown style of football.

Penn State coach Bill Dorenkott said of swimming, "It's a thinking person's sport." In order to get to the top, a team has to choose one specific point at which to peak.

To be a top team, patience and the resistance to come out blazing at every meet are key.

"You can't fake it. We'd like it to happen faster, [but] if we get sidetracked by being hot in December, it's not gonna happen," Dorenkott said. "We're not gonna shoot the lights out this weekend."

Dorenkott said that an elite program like Auburn, which was crowned the NCAA champion in 2003, is where he eventually wants his team to be.

The Tigers' squad is particularly potent, as it returns a trio of Athens Olympians in the form of Margaret Hoelzer, Jana Kolukanova, and Kirsty Coventry.

"We've got a handful of kids [of that caliber], they have a team full of kids like that. We're not there yet," Dorenkott said. "We're still forging an identity, a significantly different team [than last year]."

Despite the fact that this meet is not the stage on which the Lions hope to shine brightest -- that being Big Ten and NCAA championship meets -- some stars may emerge this weekend.

Dorenkott expects to see some swimmers post season-best times, in part due to the nature of the competition.

Though Auburn has already faced stiff competition in a November tilt against No. 1 Georgia, the Tigers always aim to perform at a high level.

"Especially of the women's side, part of their individual goals is to make [NCAA] cuts," Kim Brackin, co-head women's coach at Auburn, said.

"We have a real fast pool ... meets like this are great for that," Brackin said, also saying that she would not be surprised to see other swimmers posting fast times.

"We never know how prepared people will be," she said.

In terms of preparation, the Lions did not back off their training, but also did not prepare like they would for the Big Ten Championships.

Similarly, Auburn made no special preparations.

"It's not a meet we prepare for in terms of resting and putting on [racing] suits," Brackin said.

Dorenkott said that because of training routines, distance swimmers would be closer to posting desired times than sprinters.

Sophormore swimmers Nikki Collins and Margy Keefe, both of whom compete in distance freestyle events, are two to watch. But Dorenkott said that there is a core of six to eight swimmers capable of posting an NCAA cut time at any time.

"If you can do that, you're a legitimate threat at the NCAA meet," Dorenkott said.