It’s not nationals, but it’s close.

Penn State, the No. 2 ice hockey club in the country, will meet the No. 4 Illini this weekend for a series that already has a playoff atmosphere.

“Ever since (head coach Chad Cassel) said to us last April that we were playing Penn State at home, I’ve been looking forward to it,” said senior forward and team captain Jim Rogers. “Penn State. At home. Right before league tournament and nationals, this is definitely a big, big opportunity.”

The excitement and buzz over this weekend’s games is compounded by Alumni Weekend, when all the old-time Illini players get together to watch the team they played for and skate in the annual alumni game Saturday at 4 p.m.

“I think this week of practice, I’ve been a little more nervous and taking as many shots as possible to get into a rhythm for the game,” Rogers said. “Once I get into the game the butterflies will go away.”

The Illini last played Penn State in the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis last year. Illinois was ahead of the Icers in the third period, but still lost 3-2. But with two teams as evenly matched as Penn State and Illinois, each game can go either way.

“Every time we play these guys it’s pretty much a one-goal game,” junior forward Mike Roesch said. “It’s not as much about revenge (from last year) as much as it is about two teams fighting for high position going into nationals.”

Rankings are everything in nationals and a higher seed plays the lower ranked teams in the round-robin format. Since January the Illini lost a spot in the rankings while many of the starters were out playing for Team USA in Austria. Roesch said Illinois still has a lot to prove and sweeping the team who’s won nationals four of five years would rocket them to the top of the rankings.

“We’ve proved a lot already,” he said, “but with our whole team together, we can beat anybody in the league.”

For the seniors, it’s more personal.

“The fact that I’m not going to be able to play in front of these fans for too much longer definitely brings a lot more emotion to the game,” Rogers said.

At the other end of the spectrum, freshman forward Alex Park will be playing the Icers for the first time and said everyone has been practicing hard and focused on Penn State.

“We all know how big of a game this is. We don’t have Alumni Weekend this weekend for no reason,” Park said. “Practices have been very up-tempo and high-speed all week.”

For two games in early February, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Both games start Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Rogers said he expects a huge crowd for the games and is excited for the puck to drop.

“You always want to play well in front of your fans,” he said. “It’s going to be ridiculous (this weekend).”