If the Wisconsin men's basketball team (21-1, 7-0 Big Ten) continues to go undefeated in the conference, Illinois coach Bruce Weber has some advice for Badgers coach Bo Ryan.

When Illinois was approaching a nearly perfect record in the Big Ten two seasons ago, Weber did all he could to keep his team's focus away from the history that could be made.

He dangled short-term goals in front of his players -- snap Wisconsin's then-38-game home winning streak, earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament -- as others talked about the possibility of Illinois being the first team to go undefeated in the conference since Indiana did so in 1976.

But by early February of 2005, Weber could not isolate his players any more, and by the final game of the season, he finally saw his players wilt under pressure against Ohio State. After leading for most of that game, Illinois went down by one on a three-pointer with 5.1 seconds left and lost, 65-64.

"You could see the world of pressure on top of them. We got hesitant," Weber said earlier this week.

This year, Wisconsin is 7-0 in the Big Ten, an NCAA best 21-1 overall and off to its best start in school history. The Badgers have a chance to do what Illinois' 2004-05 team could not, and Weber senses a familiar feeling.

"It was just about this time for us," Weber said. "We won at Wisconsin [on Jan. 25, 2005], beat Michigan State [on Feb. 1], and we got the national media. It started overwhelming our kids, and that's when I had to cut it off. That's what I think Bo's going to have to do, if he gets to that point. He has to be careful about the media attention because that is what will get to the kids more than anything."

After Wisconsin's game at Indiana (15-5, 5-2) tonight, the Badgers will play eight more conference games, including one at No. 4 Ohio State, two against Penn State (Feb. 7 at the Bryce Jordan Center and Feb. 17 in Madison, Wis.), and two versus Michigan State.

"They're starting to get some national attention now," Weber said of this year's Wisconsin team. "That's when it got overwhelming. When in

the same week you have the New York Times and USA Today and ESPN wanting to do special interviews all in one week."

So far, though, Ryan has not noticed any change in his veteran Wisconsin team. Senior guard Alando Tucker is fourth in the Big Ten averaging 17.4 points per conference game. Fellow senior Kammron Taylor is averaging 13.7 points, and Ryan has seen increased production from bench players.

"So they're talking Wisconsin. How can anybody not think that that's positive for the school, the state, the program, and everything else?" Ryan said at his weekly press conference on Monday. "The guys have handled it extremely well, because they're still playing hard. If they were out there not diving for loose balls, not scrapping, then I'd get a little nervous. But they are, so as long as that keeps happening, we're OK."

Home cooking

The top seven teams in the Big Ten -- Wisconsin, Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and Iowa -- are a combined 90-3 at home this season. Before Wisconsin beat Iowa on Saturday, those seven teams had not lost to a conference opponent at home.

Look out

Ohio State coach Thad Matta on the fourth-ranked Buckeyes (18-3, 6-1), who held off a late Michigan State charge Saturday to win, 66-64:

"We're not where I'd like to be at this point. We show some signs," Matta said. "As a coach you're constantly looking for the perfect game, but the reality is, you're never going to get it."