Back in February, the Penn State men's tennis team faced Wisconsin in Madison. At the time, there was no thought of the importance of the match for both teams.

The two open second-round play of the Big Ten men's tennis tournament at 10 a.m. today in West Lafayette, Ind.

Chances are, in a conference tournament, there is a touch of familiarity amongst the teams. After all, weeks of play amongst a handful of teams tend to act as a prologue for that three-day tournament that may kill or stimulate a team's postseason.

Familiarity is something that the No. 5 seed Penn State men's tennis team will have against Wisconsin.

In the beginning of the Big Ten season, on February 18, the Nittany Lions traveled to Madison.

In that match, Penn State lost the doubles point, which proved to be critical despite winning three singles matches in a, 4-3, loss.

"We had a lot of opportunities to win the doubles point, but we didn't close," Penn State head coach Todd Doebler said after the loss to the Badgers. "In singles, we worked really hard."

Now the No. 40 team in the country, the Badgers have fallen since beating Penn State. Wisconsin was 6-1 after the match against the Lions, but played exactly .500 tennis since then.

However, all eight losses after the mid-February match have come to teams ranked in the top 65, and the Badgers won their last three matches of the season, including a, 5-2, win over No. 37 Minnesota.

The Badgers are the only focus for the Lions, despite being in a three-round tournament.

"We're definitely just looking at Wisconsin first," senior Ryan Berger said. "After that match, however that unfolds, then we'll think of the next match. But right now we're totally focused on Wisconsin."

If Penn State wins against Wisconsin today, it will play 10 a.m. tomorrow against the winner of today's No. 1 Ohio State- No. 8 Northwestern match.