Even more than the November weather, signs were everywhere Tuesday that the postseason has finally arrived for the Penn State men's soccer team.

Assistant coach Ryan Defibaugh pounded shots at goalkeeper Warren Gross for almost 30 minutes.

Players passed the ball around in groups, working their footskills.

With the Nittany Lions (10-6-2) set to board a bus today and head to Bloomington, Ind., for the Big Ten tournament and a first-round date Thursday with seventh-seeded Michigan, coach Barry Gorman encouraged his team to make the most of the last few hours on the practice field.

"Have a little enthusiasm," he called to his charges after they broke their pre-practice huddle and headed to stretch.

While it's likely Penn State has already compiled a strong enough resume for selection to the NCAA tournament, there's still plenty to play for this weekend at Indiana. Multiple quality wins, a Big Ten championship and an automatic berth to the NCAAs are the prizes for a three-game winning streak at the conference championship.

And even though the Lions are seeded second, there are no favorites at this year's tournament.

Top-seed Ohio State was 4-2 in conference play, while Michigan and Michigan State found themselves at the bottom of the league with 2-4 records. No team was able to distinguish itself from the rest. Penn State and Northwestern both coughed up a loss in the final two weeks, losses that opened a door for the Buckeyes.

"It's absolutely wide open," midfielder Drew Cost said.

"The difference between the one and seven seed is very slight. The seven seed could have been the one seed and vice versa. I think all the teams are pretty even and we're going to have to bring our best games to win it."

Even more telling was the incredibly tight nature of the 21 games played in conference. Just one, Michigan's win over Wisconsin, was decided by three or more goals. Three others had two-goal margins, and the 17 remaining games were all either ties or were decided by one goal.

When asked how any one team will be able to distinguish itself from the pack over the weekend, Gorman said whichever team is most successful at playing their own style of soccer will have the advantage.

The veteran coach also mentioned set pieces as critical in the traditionally tight Big Ten action. Penn State allowed goals on set pieces in its last two outings, as Wisconsin scored on a free kick. and Indiana managed a goal from a corner.

Gross, who had seven shutouts in the regular season, could tie or break the program record of 10 with a strong late-season push in net. The team's last shutout came Oct. 14 against Lafayette. He noted the conference title could come down to just a few plays.

"Tournament play, really just one big play makes a huge difference, so I feel like every team in the tournament is capable of doing that and has the players that are able to do that," Gross said, breathing heavily after the lengthy practice session with Defibaugh.

Despite the team's already-solid accomplishments, with double-digit wins and an RPI rating of 13th in the country, Cost wouldn't mind seeing his team prove itself in front of the rest of the conference.

"We're definitely going out there with one purpose in mind, and that's to win," he said, "so hopefully we can bring back the hardware."