Back in January, Penn State women's gymnastics coach Steve Shephard hinted the success of the season would come down to two meets, starting with the Big Ten championships.

Tomorrow afternoon at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., Penn State will take aim at vying for national recognition as it joins six other Big Ten programs to compete for the conference women's gymnastics title.

The No. 23 Nittany Lions finished as the runner-up to champion Michigan a year ago. However, a barrage of teams joins the Lions in hopes of upsetting the No. 4 Wolverines in their own gym. The other five Big Ten teams are ranked no lower than No. 31 nationally, with Michigan State, Iowa and Minnesota in the top 25.

Shephard was generally mute about his outlook for tomorrow, saying very little other than that the expectations are to hit 24 out of 24 routines. Underplaying the significance of this meet, however, may have been the intention with his youth-filled roster.

"I don't think [this week's] been any different," Shephard said. "I don't think it's really changed their approach. We've been going at it just like any other meet."

But coming off its best meet of the season, there's reason to believe a poor showing tomorrow would be considered a major letdown for Penn State.

Shephard said he'd be happy with wherever the Lions finish -- as long as they don't stray from their regular practice routines. And by sophomore Casey Rohrbaugh's account, the Lions are ready.

"Everyone's been hitting and doing exactly what they need to be doing to do well at Big Tens, and everyone's really excited," Rohrbaugh said. "The freshmen really don't know what it's about, but you can tell they're really optimistic. Teenie [Beck] and Heather [McElwee] were saying, 'We can do this, guys. Even though we've had troubles in the past, we totally have the capabilities to go for a Big Ten championship.' "

Beck admitted the magnitude of the meet has not hit her yet, and she said the freshmen haven't discussed the meet at all, so as not to put even more pressure on them.

Instead, the pressure lies with sophomore Brandi Personett.

Personett will look to repeat as Big Ten champion on vault and the all-around. She said the pressure to repeat will start to kick in once her name is announced in each event.

"No one expected me to do that last year because I was a freshman," Personett said. "But I don't know, there's some kind of pressure, I'm trying not to think about that. There's nerves ... but take 'em and use 'em to build excitement for my routines."

With a No. 4 ranking and the support of the home crowd back them, the Wolverines figure to be the favorite tomorrow. But as Rohrbaugh alluded to, anything can happen. The Lions upset the Wolverines a year ago in Ann Arbor.

"It's always that opportunity and possibility," Rohrbaugh said. "If we hit our routines, we're gonna give them a run for their money."