BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The WKU Lady Topper soccer program announced a challenging 2010 schedule Wednesday, featuring two NCAA Tournament participants from a year ago and the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which will be played at the WKU Soccer Complex in early November.

Also highlighting the non-conference portion of the schedule will be WKU's first game against a Big Ten Conference opponent since 2006 and first ever at the WKU Soccer Complex, which will be the regular-season home opener against Minnesota on August 29. The Lady Toppers open the 2010 season with two road games against Southeastern Conference foes Tennessee and Mississippi.

"We are very excited about this year's schedule and look forward to throwing a young group with a lot of newcomers straight into the fire," Lady Topper assistant coach Chris Tinius said. "The non-conference portion of the schedule, including our two exhibition games, is meant to really stretch us and hopefully prepare us for the intensity and battles that come with every game within the Sun Belt Conference."

The Lady Toppers hit the field for the start of the 2010 season with a pair of exhibition games in the middle of August. WKU will host Memphis on August 13 and travel to Butler on August 15. Memphis defeated WKU in the 2009 regular season, 3-0, and later participated in the NCAA Tournament. WKU opened the 2009 season with a 1-0 win against Butler.

The regular season begins with a pair of challenging road games against Tennessee and Mississippi on August 20 and 27, respectively. WKU has never faced Tennessee in a regular-season game, and the Lady Toppers took down Mississippi in Bowling Green on August 22, 2008, 2-1 in overtime, in the only previous meeting between the two schools. Mississippi advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2009.

The match against Minnesota is the first of three-straight home contests and the start of six of seven at home for WKU, who will also welcome Evansville and Ball State to the WKU Soccer Complex. After a road match at Eastern Kentucky on September 12, WKU begins another three-game homestand on September 17 with games against Southeast Missouri State, North Texas and Denver.

North Texas and Denver, perennial Sun Belt Conference powers, also came to Bowling Green in 2009. WKU went 1-1 against the pair last season, and Denver later won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Other conference matches at home include ULM and Louisiana-Lafayette on October 15 and 17, respectively, and South Alabama on October 24. The Lady Toppers travel to league opponents UALR, Arkansas State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, Troy and Middle Tennessee.

"Within the Sun Belt we certainly expect another very competitive fall and expect to have to fight and claw for every result," Tinius said. "The re-configured schedule should also give the conference portion of the season a bit of a new feel as we will see league opponents at different times than we have the last few years."

The Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be hosted by WKU for the first time since 2003 on November 3-6. The winner of the tournament earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.