Burns, coach of the Ohio State women's basketball team, knew just exactly how tough the Big Ten Conference was going to be this season.

"The biggest thing I see is parity. Last year, with Purdue, everybody was competing for No. 2," Burns said. "This year you have a number of teams who return virtually every starter. We have good players returning and great coaches. To win, you're going to have to play every night."

Although the bottom half of the conference is hampered by youth, nearly every coach feels they have at least the athletes to compete every time they hit the court. We'll see how smart they are when they run into Penn State, Illinois and Purdue, this year's favorites once again.

Below are the teams in predicted order of finish.

1. Penn State: In a conference where experience will largely determine the success of each team, the Lady Lions are loaded with upperclassmen. Leading this pack of players are seniors Andrea Garner, the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, and Helen Darling.

Because of their high level of experience, Penn State was ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll by the coaches, and are ranked No. 10 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today poll.

Last year, Penn State finished the year ranked second in the Big Ten behind Purdue, falling to Louisiana Tech in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

If the Lady Lions hope to better last season's performance, they will first have to survive their competitive non-conference schedule. Penn State will take on preseason No. 1 Connecticut, No. 11 Auburn and a highly-regarded team from Clemson.

After completing their tough non-conference schedule, look for the Lady Lions to get off to a quick start in the Big Ten with matchups against Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota, before facing tougher challenges in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin.

2. Illinois: In order to better last season's strong performance, the Fighting Illini will rely heavily on the talent and experience of Preseason all-Big Ten members Susan Blauser and Tauja Catchings. The Illini lost only one player from last season, and they will use their abundance of returning players to better last year's third-place finish in the Big Ten, and second-round exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Due to its large amount of returning players and strong postseason finish, Illinois was ranked No. 1 in the preseason Big Ten polls, along with Penn State.

"They were very obvious picks because they have talent and experience," Wisconsin head coach Jane Albright said.

The Fighting Illini also received preseason national honors, with a No. 12 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

This ranking will be challenged when Illinois begins its season. In their non-conference schedule, the Fighting Illini will take on No. 1 Connecticut, No. 5 Georgia, No. 9 Notre Dame, and No. 20 Kansas.

After completing its difficult non-conference schedule, Illinois will open the Big Ten season against Ohio State and Wisconsin, and will face its biggest test when playing Penn State, Michigan and Purdue in three straight games.

3. Purdue: After winning the national championship last year, the Boilermakers find themselves fighting for respect this season. In the preseason polls, Purdue was ranked fourth in the Big Ten by the coaches, and received a range of national rankings from No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today poll to No. 23 in the AP poll.

"I thought that was a tragedy, myself," Ohio State's Burns said, referring to Purdue's ranking.

Purdue's "tragedy" is caused by the key losses the team has suffered. Former player Ukari Figgs was named last year's Women's Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and Stephanie White-McCarthy was an All-American selection. Another key loss was head coach Carolyn Peck, who accepted the head coach position for the WNBA's Orlando Miracle. Replacing Peck is last year's assistant coach, Kristy Curry.

The Boilermakers will need guards Katie Douglas and Kelly Komara to step up and replace Figgs and White-McCarthy in order to compete in their non-conference schedule. In one of the toughest schedules in the league, Purdue will compete against the preseason teams of No. 2 Tennessee, No. 6 Louisiana Tech, and No. 9 Notre Dame.

After completing their tough non-conference schedule, the Boilermakers will be tested when they open the Big Ten season against Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan.

4. Wisconsin: The theme of Wisconsin's season will be improvement. After finishing strong at the end of last season, which concluded with a loss to Arkansas in the WNIT finals, the Badgers have their sights set on an NCAA tournament bid.

With all five starters returning, and the highly recruited freshman center Nina Smith on this year's squad, that bid does not seem out of reach.

Another area that will help the Badgers this season is their size.

Wisconsin is the tallest team in the Big Ten, with nine of 14 players reaching heights of six feet.

"I think that they are big, strong and real versatile," Albright said.

Leading Wisconsin into the season will be last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jessie Stomski, and preseason all-Big Ten selection LaTonya Sims.

The Badgers will need to rely on the experience and talent of Sims and Stomski, as well as others, in order to be successful in non-conference play. Wisconsin will take on second-ranked Tennessee at home in December, and will take on No. 3 ranked Rutgers on the road in late November. After completing their preseason play, the Badgers will tip off the Big Ten season with difficult matchups against Purdue and Illinois.

5. Michigan State: After losing only one player from last year's squad, Michigan State will rely on its experience in order to compete in a talent-packed conference.

The Spartans have nine letterwinners returning, and will be welcoming two freshmen onto this year's team.

"Michigan State is a team that's growing old together, and they're the kind that make you nervous," Penn State head coach Rene Portland said.

Two of the most talented returning players are All-American candidates Maxann Reese and Kristen Rasmussen. Last season, Reese was a first-team all-Big Ten selection, and Rasmussen was a second-team all-Big Ten selection.

The Spartans will look to the experience of Reese and Rasmussen when they open their non-conference schedule. Michigan State will take on No. 8 North Carolina and No. 9 Notre Dame before opening Big Ten play in late December.

If the Spartans hope to get an NCAA bid, they will have to stay competitive into February, when they play consecutive games against Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan.

6. Michigan: The goal of the Wolverines for this season is simple - to receive an NCAA bid.

"We expect to be one of the top 64 teams in the country," Michigan head coach Sue Guevara said.

In order to receive an invitation to the Big Dance, Michigan will have to rely heavily on their backcourt, composed of Stacey Thomas and Anne Thorius, both of whom were second-team all-Big Ten selections last season, and sophomore Alayne Ingram.

"Their backcourt is probably one of the strongest that we have in our league with the guards that they have," Penn State's Portland said.

The Wolverines backcourt will be tested when they take on No. 6 Louisiana Tech and No. 14 Louisiana State University in non-conference play.

After completing those difficult match-ups, Michigan will open Big Ten play against in-state rival Michigan State, which will set-up a rematch of last season's second round 69-68 loss in the WNIT. After battling the Spartans, Michigan will have two relatively easy games against Minnesota and Indiana before taking on Purdue, Illinois and Wisconsin.

7. Ohio State: Here's one team on the decline after finishing last season in fourth place in the Big Ten. Here's what the Ohio State media guide preview says: "On paper, losing four seniors, including leading scorer, rebounder and two-time, first-team all-Big Ten member Marrita Porter, leaves big shoes to fill."

On paper? How about everywhere else on Earth? The Buckeyes are left with a squad comprised of nine first- or second-year players, including five freshmen. The only senior starter on the team is forward Michaela "Mixu" Moua, the team's Most Improved Player.

Ohio State will get some help from a talented sophomore, Laura Shenk, who poured in a team-leading 16 points in the first exhibition game of the season. But the Buckeyes also are hurt by the loss of another Big Ten freshman phenom, center LaToya Turner, who recently underwent surgery to alleviate swelling in her knee. Turner was a consensus all-American at Pickerington (Ohio) High School, where she led the team to a state title and it's first-ever national championship.

8. Iowa: The loss of center Amy Herrig really hurts the Hawkeyes, although they only have to face Wisconsin once this season, which means only one dose of 6-foot-4 Nina Smith. Herrig, an All-American as well as an all-Big Ten player, averaged 18.7 points per game for the Hawkeyes. She scored 504 total points and broke a school record with 42 points scored in a single game.

Iowa has been saying this preseason that the team is actually stronger this year with a more balanced attack, and they're right. Three sophomores return after playing a boatload last season, and Iowa may just fulfill this season's motto: "back in the groove."

"This is our motto this year and pretty much sums up what we want to accomplish," Iowa coach Angie Lee said. "We want to get back to where we have always been. We want to get back into the top five in the Big Ten.

9. Indiana: Yet another team looking forward to a "fresh start," Indiana has a quality group of youngsters coming in. Unfortunately, all the top teams in the conference have a quality group of veterans coming in. Something has to give.

"We are looking forward to a fresh start. We had our recruiting class ranked sixth (in the nation)," IU coach Jim Izard said. "We are a young team ,but it will be a fun bunch to coach. They will come back quicker, and their vision is on the next game and not the end of their careers."

The last time Indiana played a real game, they suffered a 104-69 drubbing by Illinois last February. But at least so far this young exhibition season, the Hoosiers are showing signs of life. And it all rests on their extremely hefty post game, which exists in the form of 6-foot-5 sophomore center Jill Chapman and 6-foot-4 Erika Christensen, a raw Ohio product. If those two start to click, Indiana might triple their conference wins from a year ago. (Two.)

10. Minnesota: After finishing in the bottom of the barrel last season, Minnesota coach Cheryl Littlejohn knows, or at least hopes, that there is nowhere else to go but up. She's really going out on a limb after ending the 1998-99 season with a 2-14 record in the conference and just seven wins overall.

But when has cautious optimism ever hurt anyone?

"Our goal in non-conference is to go better than .500 and double our wins in conference," Littlejohn said. "We want to establish ourselves and win the close games that we lost last year.

"We are more balanced, we have ten players who are either freshman or in their second year of the program. We have a totally different mentality where losing is not a habit."

11. Northwestern: It isn't atypical for a Division I women's basketball team to bring in male athletes to help test the roster in practice. Wisconsin does it themselves, and coach Jane Albright has seen it pay off, particularly in rebounding drills. But the men are usually in college.

And thus it signals trouble for first-year coach June Olkowski, who has recruited high-school students to practice against his team. Olkowski's words say it all:

"This year rebuilding is a big factor. We have six kids who have not played Division I collegiate ball."

Olkowski feels that despite the loss of the school's third all-time leading scorer, Megan Chawansky, he has an edge in recruiting because of Northwestern's academic reputation. He actually thinks that players will consider the Wildcats over the likes of Stanford and Duke. Ah, freshmen.