Fully rested and ready to face the best of the Big Ten, the No. 14 Penn State women's swimming team will head to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Big Ten championship meet, running today through Saturday.

A team that has been characterized as mature, complete and talented will not be holding anything back in an attempt to win the championship for the first time since 2002 -- when it was also ranked 14th. To accomplish this, the Lions will have to win as the underdog.

"I don't think many people around the league or around the country give us much of a chance," Penn State coach Bill Dorenkott said. "We're looking forward to going out and seeing how we stack up."

Dorenkott said No. 8 Wisconsin is the favorite on paper, adding that the Badgers had, "hands down," the best summer of any team in the league. The most notable member of the Badgers squad is Carly Piper, who earned a gold medal at the Athens Olympics as a member of the world record-setting 800-meter freestyle relay team.

However, if history is any indication, having scads of seasonal top-50 times, as Wisconsin does, does not guarantee automatic success.

When Penn State last won the Big Ten Championships, it did so with the help of walk-on swimmers and clinched the victory in the final event.

"It's not like we had it in the bag," senior Kristen Woodring said. "It's just neat to see people that usually aren't in the spotlight step up and take a big role on the team."

Woodring, winner of three events as a sophomore on the 2002 Big Ten championship team, said that this team is the strongest with which she has ever competed.

"This team is a lot more ready," Woodring said. "Just going through the year in our dual meets I just think we know that we have a good shot and we aren't naïve about our talent and ability."

That can largely be credited to the individuals composing what Dorenkott called the smartest group he has coached. The team, which compiled a 3.4 GPA in the fall, has 11 seniors who have provided veteran leadership.

"It's been an easy group to coach in terms of just people knowing what they've needed to do when they've needed to do it," Dorenkott said.

For how well prepared the Lions are, Dorenkott said they must maintain focus. From day one until now, sights have been set on Bloomington. This focus may make some difference, as last year Penn State placed too much attention beyond Big Tens to the NCAA championships.

"It's a question of managing your emotional energy, and that's something that you've got to be good at even when you get to the contest," Dorenkott said. "[The key is] containing that enthusiasm and channeling any nervous energy you might have into a positive fashion."

Ultimately, all of the Big Ten titles and records, the All-America status, and Olympic trials appearances will need to be put aside in interest of the "now."

"The things that will come into question next week is how tough are we, how good do we want to be, and how much do we want to shine when the lights are bright," Dorenkott said.