If you go to Penn State, chances are, just mentioning the word "Michigan" brings immediate feelings of disgust.

Michigan's dominance in sports in the Big Ten is sickening if you're a Nittany Lion.

The Penn State men's golf team hopes to change that when it gets its first taste of Big Ten play this weekend at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor.

So just how important is it for the Nittany Lions to fare well in the Big Ten tournament? Not so much.

"It's not as important as you'd think," starter Robert Rohanna said. "Golf is separated by districts, and it's how well you do there that determines if you go to regionals. This tournament isn't life or death."

Still, the team wants to play well against rivals in the conference throughout the year.

"You want to start playing better against some of the Big Ten teams," starter and captain Greg Pieczynski said. "You get more of a feeling of who you're going up against in your conference, and where you need to be."

There will be plenty of Big Ten teams so the team will get a good barometer of where it stands.

Along with Michigan and Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa all will be in attendance.

Other teams that will be coming are Ball State, Charlotte, Eastern Michigan, Furman, Kansas State, Miami (OH), Oregon State, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington and Xavier.

The coaching staff knows how the team can have a better showing than its 10th place finish in the Cleveland State Invitational.

"The main thing that any good showing comes down to is just taking advantage of par 5's," assistant coach John Dunlap said.

"You have to use good course management and chip and putt well. The more putts you make, the better chances you have to move up the leaderboard."

The team has to deal with lineup changes as well.

True freshman Chad Bricker won't get to suit up, and a hand injury to Andrew Price will force the senior to sit out for the weekend.

Pieczynski, Rohanna and Harvin Groft will start again, with junior John Aubrey and senior Marco Poccia getting the starting nod in Ann Arbor for the weekend.

However, the loss of Price may prove worse than the team would like to admit.

Pieczynski, Poccia and Price have all played Michigan's course before, so not having Price's experience may have a negative impact on the team's overall showing.

"Not having Price is definitely a loss because he's been playing well, has played the course before and brings intangibles and a senior presence," Pieczynski said.

"He really helps with the younger guys, too."

It still remains to be seen how well Poccia and Aubrey can adjust to their first tournament of the season.

But their teammates aren't worried about them.

"It's a different lineup, but it's a good thing to get different guys playing," Pieczynski said.

"It can only help you at the end of the season. We feel comfortable with the guys going."

Hopefully the new starters will feel comfortable too.

If not, Penn State may end up being on the wrong side in the wins and losses column in the Big Ten.