As the No. 2 Penn State men's gymnastics team heads westward to compete against No. 5 Stanford and No. 9 Iowa at 10 p.m. tomorrow in Palo Alto, Calif., two interesting storylines are set to unfold.

The Cardinal look to exact some revenge on the Nittany Lions after falling just short against Penn State last year. Moreover, the matchup with the Hawkeyes marks the first time since 2003 that the Lions will face Iowa outside of championship competition.

Nevertheless, Penn State head coach Randy Jepson welcomes the unique challenges the other two teams present.

"I'm glad we get on the road. Unfortunately, we are out of our comfort zone," Jepson said. "But we are in good shape health-wise. It's good to have this kind of test."

This test will be the last time the Lions will have a true road meet this season. The only other meet that will not be held in Rec Hall will be the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.

Last year at the Bryce Jordan Center, Stanford was originally declared a winner over Penn State after all the scores were tallied. However, after some reconsidering, changes to individual scores resulted in a narrow Lions victory by .050 points.

Jepson said that the trip to California to face off against a Stanford team looking to avoid a repeat of last season is just the test his team needs.

"They have a very vocal crowd. They sit right next to the events," Jepson said. "But we have to be ready for that."

While Penn State prepares for a tough time against a team it says will be fired up, Stanford actually said it will take it as just another meet.

Like the Lions, the Cardinal come in with a loss only to No. 1 Michigan. Also like Penn State, Stanford suffered its only defeat at home.

But Stanford said it can't completely scout the Lions for itself, as head coach Thom Glielmi said the high number of foreigners on Penn State will give his team a wait-and-see approach. Four Lion gymnasts hail from outside the continental United States.

"You don't know what they bring to the plate. Look at Penn State, they have four or five [foreign athletes]," Glielmi said. "You don't know how good they are until you see them in the meet."

So, while Stanford certainly presents a tough challenge for road teams, Jepson said it is important to not forget about Iowa. The Hawkeyes are another conference rival Penn State will meet before the Big Ten championships.

The familiarity will help Penn State as it prepares for the conference championship, but the team knows it's all about how it does -- not how well the opposition performs.

"I try to take it how our team is doing itself. We have to forget who we are competing against," senior captain Matt Cohen said. "If we hit our routines, we can beat anybody in the country."