FAYETTEVILLE — Coach Tom Collen said a trip to the Bahamas highlights Arkansas’ women’s basketball schedule, which was released Thursday, but his excitement doesn’t center on the sand or surf.

“The highlight of the schedule is our Thanksgiving trip, not only because it’s to the Bahamas, but because of the teams we’re going to face,” Collen said in a news release. “We’ll open with a Pac-10 foe in Oregon State, we have the chance to face the ACC and North Carolina on the second day.” Arkansas is making the trip to play in the Junkanoo Jam on Nov. 28-29, and will play either North Carolina or Pacific depending on the outcome of the first-round games.

Arkansas’ home slate is highlighted by a Jan. 22 date with defending national champion Tennessee. SMU and LSU are the other NCAA Tournament teams that will visit Walton Arena as part of a schedule that features 14 teams that participated in postseason play last season.

“The true strength of this year’s schedule is how it allowed us to eliminate games with teams with very low RPI ratings, which in turn hurt our RPI overall,” Collen said in reference to the Rating Percentage Index, one of the factors used when postseason bids are awarded. “Again, it’s all part of getting a young team ready for the challenge of the SEC.” Arkansas will blend six newcomers with six returning players from last season’s team that finished 17-14. The Razorbacks currently are going through organized workouts as regulated by the NCAA.

Arkansas will play its Red-White Game on Oct. 24, an exhibition against Rogers (Okla. ) State on Nov. 5, and opens the regular season at home Nov. 15 against Louisiana-Monroe.

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“This year will be tough because we have such a young team, but it’s all part of taking our program to another level,” Collen said.

The SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament will be played at North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena for the third time, March 5-8.