Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU). The men's teams use the name Hilltoppers; however, the women's teams use the name Lady Toppers. The university's athletic program fields 17 varsity teams in 11 different sports. WKU participates in the Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and competes as a member of Conference USA.

On March 12, 2010, Ross Bjork, who was the senior associate athletic director for Development and External Relations for the UCLA Bruins, replaced Dr. Wood Selig, as WKU's athletic director. But in March 2012, Bjork accepted the job as athletic director at Ole Miss. Todd Stewart, who had served as Senior Associate Athletic Director since 2010, was named interim athletic director until May when he was officially named athletic director.

On April 1, 2013, it was announced Western Kentucky would depart the Sun Belt Conference for Conference USA, effective July 1, 2014. They are former members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).