The men's golf team was in Columbus, Ohio, just two weeks ago finishing second in the Kepler Invitational. Course familiarity should be on the Spartans' side when they head back to Scarlet Course for the Big Ten Championship this weekend.

Or maybe not.

According to www.weather.com, temperatures will be in the high 60s and approaching 70 degrees this weekend with a slight chance of rain. But even that forecast seems like a seven-day getaway to Florida compared to Columbus two weeks ago.

The conditions were much different than they are now. With a wet, windy, 40-degree climate two weeks ago, the weather was so severe that an entire round of the tournament was eliminated.

Given the variance in weather conditions, playing at the Scarlet Course two weeks ago should have little impact in helping MSU win its second Big Ten title in three years.

"The weather was so nasty that you're just out there to play golf," senior Matt Harmon said. "It's going to be a completely different golf course than it was two weeks ago just because of the conditions."

MSU head coach Mark Hankins emphasizes the weather change is an obstacle, but it also can work to the advantage of some teams.

Going into the tournament, it seems that no team has an upper hand on another. Hankins remarks that this year's field is the tightest he's ever seen and any one of seven teams could capture the Big Ten championship.

Even the players have noticed the parity in competition heading into the weekend.

"Throughout fall and spring, everyone has beaten everyone somewhere," Harmon said. "Teams haven't been clicking all the time. Sometimes a team is doing well and then they're not, so we never got a really good feel on who's the best team in the Big Ten."

Harmon believes that because of the success in their last three tournaments, the Spartans are the team to beat. MSU finished first at the Boilermaker Invitational on April 7-8, second at the Kepler Invitational and first at the Fossum/Spartan Invitational last weekend.

The team's recent success has brought back comparisons to the 2005 Big Ten championship team. While the Spartans don't mind the connection, they don't feel it's all that accurate — aside from the success thing.

"We have way more talent this year," Harmon said. "There was something about that team two years ago, maybe the maturity or experience that we knew we would get it done.

"It's kind of started to get that way with the recent success we've had, but these are two completely different teams."