MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin head men’s basketball coach Jason James has watched the Skyhawks play some of the nation’s toughest teams since his arrival as an assistant coach in 2002. Today, James released the schedule for the upcoming season, and it’s safe to say that trend will continue.

“It’s important to see where we are and where we need to go to get better,” said James, who enters his second season at the helm. “We are very excited about our non-conference schedule. These early games will help our young team gain some much needed experience before we hit conference play. “We know we are in a tough league and we will have to be ready to play every day.”

After opening the regular season with a Nov. 12 home date against MacMurray College – a Division III school located in Jacksonville, Ill. – the Skyhawks will battle Centenary College of the Summit League at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center three days later.

Three more tough road games in a span of six days follow, beginning with a matchup in Baton Rouge, La. to take on the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference on Nov. 18. UT Martin will then make the 185-mile trek across the state to square off against Northwestern State of the Southland Conference just two days later.

On Nov. 23, the Skyhawks return to FedEx Forum for a showdown with the Memphis Tigers, who have won 20 games in every season since 2000. UT Martin and Memphis will square off for the fifth time this decade, with the Skyhawks’ last visit to Bluff City occurring on Nov. 5, 2007.

A home game against Lipscomb, who posted a 17-13 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2009-10, closes out the month of November, as Ohio Valley Conference play begins in December. The Skyhawks hit the commonwealth of Kentucky for road matchups against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 2 and 4, respectively.

For the fourth consecutive season, UT Martin will take on the Central Arkansas Bears of the Southland Conference – this time traveling to Conway, Ark. on Dec. 8. Following that, the Skyhawks head to Fort Wayne, Ind. to take on IPFW, who put together a winning season (16-15) last year while competing in the Summit League.

The Skyhawks will take eight days off before resuming play at home against William Woods College, an NAIA opponent out of Fulton, Mo.

UT Martin rounds out the 2010 calendar year with a trio of quality opponents who made runs in the NCAA Tournament last March. The Skyhawks host defending OVC champion Murray State – who won 31 games and came three points shy of beating national runner-up Butler in the round of 32 last season – takes place on Dec. 21 in the Elam Center.

Six days later, UT Martin heads to Columbus, Ohio on Dec. 27 to square off against Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State, who went 29-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16. The team who eliminated the Buckeyes – the Tennessee Volunteers – appear next on the schedule on Dec. 29, fresh off their 28-9 campaign and Elite Eight appearance. This will be the fourth time in program history the Skyhawks will visit the Volunteers in Thompson-Boling Arena.

The OVC slate picks back up with a visit to Southeast Missouri on Jan. 3. The Skyhawks host Austin Peay (Jan. 6) and Tennessee State (Jan. 8) before road contests at Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State on Jan. 13 and 15, respectively.

Back-to-back home games against Southeast Missouri and Eastern Illinois take place before UT Martin plays four road games in a row: at future OVC member SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 24); at Murray State (Jan. 29); at Austin Peay (Feb. 3); and at Tennessee State (Feb. 5).

The Skyhawks then will close out the season with five of six games at the Elam Center. Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech visit on Feb. 10 and 12 before a Valentine’s Day showdown on the road at Eastern Illinois.

UT Martin will once again take part in the ESPN BracketBusters series, as they will host an opponent on Feb. 19. The regular season closes with home dates against Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 24) and Morehead State (Feb. 26), before the new OVC Tournament format goes into effect. Beginning this year, all tournament games will take place at the renovated Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.