Eleven schools which participated in the 2010 postseason, including eight NCAA Tournament foes, are among a 29-game women's basketball slate released Wednesday by Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell.
"Another tough schedule for us, but that is what we are all about," Insell said. "We said in order to get to the next level and take our program where we want to go, we would have to play some of the best teams in the country. I think we have done that and will continue to do that.
"We have a young team and we will be challenged just about every night. That is good for our players, especially as we head into the Sun Belt Conference schedule."
Among the eight NCAA Tournament opponents are a pair of schools, Xavier and Kentucky, who reached the Elite Eight last March. Xavier will head to Murfreesboro Dec. 9, while the Blue Raiders will be looking for their second-straight win over the Wildcats when they travel to Lexington, Ky., Dec. 29.
Middle Tennessee opens the regular season with two other postseason foes, including the season opener inside the Murphy Center against WNIT participant USF Nov. 14. Two days later, the Blue Raiders travel up I-24 to face NCAA Tournament opponent Austin Peay before heading to Fayetteville, Ark., to battle Arkansas Nov. 21 in the first of two SEC contests on the ledger.
After a short Thanksgiving break, MT returns home and welcomes ETSU (Nov. 26) and South Dakota State (Nov. 28) to Murfreesboro, both of whom competed in the NCAA field last March. A trip to Tennessee Tech Dec. 1 kicks off a three-game road swing, which also includes contests at Georgia Tech and UCF. The Yellow Jackets also reached the field of 64 a year ago.
The Xavier tilt is the first of back-to-back home games in the middle of the month, followed by NCAA Tournament foe James Madison Dec. 12 for the final contest before semester exams. Middle Tennessee will then hit the road for San Antonio, site of last year's Final Four, for the UTSA Tournament Dec. 20-21 where it will battle St. Bonaventure and Kansas State on back-to-back days. The Bonnies are one of three WNIT opponents on the schedule, which also includes Western Kentucky.
The turn of the calendar to 2011 also marks the beginning of Sun Belt action. The Blue Raiders travel to Mobile, Ala., to face South Alabama in the league opener Jan. 2. The next four games alternate between home and away with MT playing host to North Texas and Florida Atlantic.
Troy and Denver come to town Jan. 19 and 23, respectively, before a month-ending road swing to the Sunshine State to face Florida Atlantic and FIU also on the slate.
February opens with home games against ULM and South Alabama with a road contest at Western Kentucky Feb. 9 before another home match with FIU Feb. 12 in the third doubleheader of the season inside the Murphy Center.
The road portion of the schedule will conclude with trips to Troy and UALR, while the regular-season finale is set for Feb. 27 against Western Kentucky at home. UALR advanced to its first NCAA Tournament last March.
The Sun Belt Championships will be held for the third-straight year in Hot Springs, Ark., March 5-8. The NCAA Tournament begins March 19 with the Final Four slated for April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Ind. |
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