ROSEMONT, Ill. — If the preseason polls are any indication, it should be a wild and bumpy ride for every women’s basketball team competing in the Big Ten this year.

Penn State, the defending regular season champion, was announced as the preseason favorite of conference coaches in a poll released Sunday.

Purdue, last year’s Big Ten tournament champion, finished second in the voting, while Minnesota took home third place.

The media, however, picked Purdue as its preseason favorite, with Penn State and Minnesota following closely behind.

“I do think there are a couple of teams that could win a national championship out of the Big Ten, and I just think the depth and how good everybody is going to be might put it as the number one or two conference in the country, which is very exciting,” Indiana head coach Kathi Bennett said.

With all six members of the coaches’ and media’s 2002-03 All-Big Ten First Teams returning this season, teams are getting ready for a year dominated by star-studded seniors.

Among those seniors is Penn State guard Kelly Mazzante, the media’s choice for preseason player of the year and the coaches’ choice for preseason co-player of the year.

“In Kelly’s case, she has an incredible three milestones that will happen to her this year,” Penn State head coach Rene Portland said. “She’s going to break the Big Ten record (for scoring), she’ll break the Penn State record, and she’ll score 3,000 points, so she’s made more than noise.”

Also looking to make noise is Minnesota guard Lindsay Whalen, an additional coaches’ choice for preseason co-player of the year, as well as Purdue senior Shereka Wright.

“I think all seniors have a sense of urgency, which is good for the conference, because then the conference is going to make some news nationally, and that’s what this conference needs to do,” Portland said.

The Northwestern women’s basketball team is welcoming back two seniors, Kristin Ambrose and Michelle Zylstra. But the Wildcats will be looking for big numbers from two juniors, honorable mention All-Big Ten selection Sarah Kwasinski and Samantha McComb.

With more than half of the Cats’ starters returning, head coach June Olkowski has begun to see motivation that was never before in place.

“Players are definitely taking ownership, wanting things to change and wanting things to happen,” Olkowski said. “We still have things we need to work on, but there’s an aura that has not been there before.”

With six Big Ten teams coming off NCAA Tournament berths — including Sweet Sixteen appearances by Purdue, Penn State, and Minnesota — it will certainly be tough for any team, including the Cats, to get conference wins.

But according to Big Ten coaches, anything can happen on any given night. “This has got to be the most parity-driven year we’ve had,” Purdue head coach Kristy Curry said. “There are no ‘gimes’ anywhere, at any time, in this league.”