For the first time this season in Big Ten play, the No. 63 Penn State men's tennis team will be favored, at least as far as rankings go.

The Nittany Lions (12-3, 1-2 Big Ten) jumped nine spots in the national rankings this week, settling in just above the No. 64 Northwestern (6-9, 1-2 Big Ten). All week, the Lions have been concentrating on unranked Wisconsin (6-8, 0-4 Big Ten) whom they travel to meet tomorrow before taking on the Wildcats Sunday.

The Lions will look to avenge their first-round loss to the Badgers in last year's Big Ten Championships. The close 4-3 loss came down to one game in the doubles point, placing even more emphasis on the struggling doubles play of the Lions this season.

"The big thing we've tried to do all week, is try to lock in on that first match," Penn State coach Jan Bortner said. "[We have to] focus on Wisconsin, they'll be coming after us. They beat us last year, the last time we played, and they've got a lot of those same guys back this year."

During the week the Lions tried out some new doubles combinations, swapping a player in the No. 1 and No. 2 pairings. The new combos have Malcolm Scatliffe and Bradley Hunter playing together, and Ryan Berger paired with Mark Barry.

Bortner explained that there are a few reasons for trying out the new combinations. The first is a matter of insurance, in case something was to happen to a player, it should not hurt the doubles play.

The other reason may pertain to their play so far this spring.

"Sometimes when guys play with the same partner, they almost expect their partner to do certain things, and they get a little complacent," Bortner said. "When you don't know your partner as well, you have to do more, you have to communicate more -- talk more."

As of now, Bortner does not know which combinations he will use this weekend, but the Lions seem to be preparing for anything. Holding practice both indoors and outside this week, they should be ready for either scenario. The weather forecast this weekend in the Midwest is "iffy" according to Bortner.

While the doubles point will be stressed this weekend, the Lions will be able to draw from their great singles play, most notably from Barry, their No. 1 singles player.

Barry, who crept into the national singles rankings at No. 98, should lead the way for the Lions, who have a good chance of turning around their Big Ten record, and coming off the weekend 3-2 in the conference.

However, in the Big Ten, no matches can be taken lightly.

"These teams in the Big Ten, when you're on the road, if you don't bring your 'A' game, you're going to get beat," Bortner said.