Patrick Reusse: Hebert's Gophers vie for games that test their mettle

A couple of years ago, the Big Ten suggested to its members that with the advent of annual 12-game football schedules the number of conference games be increased from eight to nine.

The coaches screamed as if pliers were being used to remove their fingernails. They weren't going to give up one of their four nonconference cupcakes for the insignificant goal of crowning a more legitimate Big Ten champion.

There's a different approach with the major fall sport in women's athletics: volleyball.

The Big Ten continues to be the main rival to the Pac-10 as the nation's No. 1 volleyball conference. And those Big Ten teams play one another home and away -- 20 matches over a period of 10 weeks.

"I think the double round-robin is great, for the best possible reason," Gophers coach Mike Hebert said. "It gives our conference a true champion."

Hebert, 64, came into the Big Ten at Illinois in 1985. He moved to Minnesota in 1996. Friday night, the Gophers went to 5-0 in the Big Ten and 15-2 overall with a three-game victory over Indiana.

This put Hebert's overall record with the Gophers at 316-113, a .737 winning percentage that does not contain the padding of the preposterous nonconference mismatches that have become commonplace with Gophers football, and now more than ever with Tubby Smith and men's basketball.

"Why not?" Hebert said. "There's nothing better than being in the heat of the battle with a team that's really good. When you win those games, the players have a great sense of accomplishment. When you lose, they find out what it takes to get to the top.

"What do you get out of playing someone well below the competitive level of a Big Ten team? You get a win, but we're not looking for wins as much as we are getting our team ready for a conference that's strong from top to bottom."

Tonight, the Gophers meet Penn State, a team that has set a standard for excellence that Hebert hasn't seen during his quarter-century in the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions won the national championship a year ago with a five-set victory over Stanford in Sacramento, Calif. They finished the season with a 34-2 record and a 26-match winning streak.

The streak is now 43 matches — 5-0 in the Big Ten, 17-0 overall, and without losing a set in 2008.

"Penn State has players that are physically intimidating, skilled in all areas and highly competitive. They have the look of a top men's team. Seriously. They are that athletic, that strong."

Russ Rose is the long-serving Penn State coach. Hebert has been competing against him since Mike became a college head coach at Pittsburgh in the late '70s.

"We go against each other during the season, and we're going against each other all the time on the recruiting trail," Hebert said. "Penn State is very difficult to beat in both of those areas.

"You could call Russ and me a couple of lifers. And when you still are enthused about what you do, still have the energy for it, why would you think about retiring?"

Hebert has been dealing with Parkinson's disease for a couple of years. "Whatever they are doing for me, it seems to be working," he said. "There are even benefits: It has slowed down my golf swing."

So now it's Penn State — tonight at 6 and in Williams Arena, on the chance the local sporting public wants to show up in numbers to give the match and the Nittany Lions the attention they deserve.

"It would be a monumental upset for us to hang with them," Hebert said. "But that's why you play, isn't it? To test yourself against the best."