[media-credit name=’MEGHAN CONLIN/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]It is all downhill for the University of Wisconsin men's swimming and diving team at the Big Ten Championships. After losing seven All-Americans over the past two years, the Badgers have found themselves with a young class with little national experience heading into the championships.

For the first time in years, the Badgers have lost their national ranking and will enter the conference championships with no prior qualifiers for the NCAA Championships.

"It's not that they have a lack of talent, they are just lacking in experience," assistant coach Kari Woodall explained. "We have a huge freshman class, so we are hoping the team can come out with some relays qualified or individuals qualified for NC's.

"We don't have anyone qualified right now, so they really have nothing to worry about. There should be no pressure, they only have things to gain."

The main focus for Wisconsin at the meet will be relays, which will be Wisconsin's best shot at qualifying for the NCAA Championships in March.

To go along with relays, the Badgers are also hoping to qualify a few individuals for Nationals at the championships.

Leading the way for Wisconsin is freshman up-and-comer Scott Rice, who has the highest ranking for UW with a third-place seeding in the 200-yard butterfly. Rice is entered with a steady 1:47.69 in that event, a time in which he achieved at the Texas Invitational last December.

"It was no surprise that he did so well at that meet," Woodall said about Rice's December swim. "We are all aware of his potential, we are just waiting for a breakthrough swim … As a freshman he has the potential to qualify for [the national championships]."

Rice is also entering the championships ranked 11th in the conference in the 100-yard butterfly and 13th in the 200-yard individual medley.

Wisconsin also has potential contributors in senior Mike Hamm, junior Tom Molzahn, sophomore Brett Koerten and freshman Mike Hopkins. Molzahn is ranked highly in two individual events, 200-yard butterfly (15th) and 500-yard freestyle (11th), while Hopkins is ranked 15th in the 100-yard backstroke and Koerten is ranked 12th in the 400-yard individual medley. Hamm rounds out the field ranked 16th in the 500 yard-freestyle.

"Anyone who advances [to finals] is a bonus," Woodall said. "Someone in every class has the potential to do so."

Last year at the championships, Wisconsin finished a distant seventh. Three weeks later, the team picked up a 19th place finish at the National Championships. The Big Ten contains some of the top teams in the nation — including three squads ranked in the top 11 in the country.

"The Big Ten is a really good conference to be in," Woodall explained. "If you want to score at the national level, this is a good meet to gain experience. If you go to this meet and do well, then you can do well at NC's and be more competitive."