IU preparing for post-season run

With a week until the Big Ten Championships here in Bloomington, the men's golf team is using this weekend's tournament as warm up as well as an indication.\nComing off a bye weekend, the men travel to East Lansing, Mich., for the Bruce Fossum/Taylor Made Invitational hosted by Michigan State University.\nFirst and second round action kicks off with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, and the final round begins also with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. on Sunday.\nThe 36 holes the first day and 18 on the second will be played at the 7,013 yard, par 72 Forest Akers Golf Course. \nThe 14 team field includes nine from the Big Ten and seven from the Hoosiers' district. Besides IU and MSU, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Toledo, Xavier and Wisconsin will make the trip north.\n"This weekend's field is full of almost every Big Ten school so obviously it will be a sign of where we stand leading into the Big Ten Championship next week," coach Mike Mayer said in a statement. "We need to place above a lot of these district teams this weekend, so we can move up in the district rankings."\nFor the Hoosiers, this tournament will not only be a preview for next weekends Big Ten championships, but it will be a battle for a NCAA tournament berth. So far, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, Kentucky, Michigan State and Kent State have automatically advanced from District IV. The Hoosiers are battling Toledo, Ohio State and Purdue for a bid to The Tourney.\nHelping IU to that spot in the NCAAs will be a lineup that has brought success throughout this spring season. In search of their first win of the entire year, sophomores Jeff Overton and Heath Peters, senior captain Ben Davidson and Aldo Jordan and freshman Scott Seibert will serve as the Hoosiers quintet this weekend.\nIU is hoping to finish in the top five for the fourth consecutive weekend.\nThe Hoosiers finished 10th out of 15 teams at the same tournament last year.