Auburn and Murray State Join 2012 Charleston Classic Field presented by Foster Grant

Event Details

Auburn and Murray State will join the field for the 2012 Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant. The teams complete the tournament field that was originally announced with seven teams, plus the loss of Southern Illinois. The tournament is set to be played on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 15, 16 & 18, at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.

Murray State is coming off the greatest season in its 87-year history, going 31-2 and reaching as high as No. 7 in the national rankings. In Steve Prohm’s first year as head coach, the Racers earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Championship West Region, beating Colorado State in the second round before falling to Marquette in round three.

Auburn finished 15-16 in head coach Tony Barbee’s second season. The Tigers look to return to the postseason for the first time since the 2009 National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

Also competing in the 2012 Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant are NCAA Championship qualifying teams Baylor and Colorado, along with Boston College, Charleston, Dayton and St. John’s.

Baylor reached the 2012 NCAA Elite Eight, while Colorado advanced to the third round of the NCAA Championship. Dayton earned a berth in the NIT.

Tournament Information
The 2012 Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant, an eight-team men’s college basketball tournament, will feature 12 games over the three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship match.

The Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television (ERT), a subsidiary of ESPN.

Northwestern won the 2011 tournament title. Previous winners include Clemson (2008), Miami (2009) and Georgetown (2010).

ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,200 sporting events. Content includes action from NCAA football, basketball and Olympic sports, NHRA and professional and amateur golf, accounting for more than 3,400 live and/or original hours of programming. ERT’s owned and operated events reach over a million fans a year and provides more than 200 additional hours of programming.

In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, WAC) and manages the Big 12 Corporate Partner Program.

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events:
Collegiate Football
BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.); Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (Houston); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu) and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards
Collegiate Basketball
Anaheim Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant (S.C.); Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Jimmy V Classic (Madison Square Garden); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); Sears BracketBusters and State Farm Champions Classic (Georgia Dome, Atlanta)
Collegiate Lacrosse
ESPNU Warrior Classic
Additional Events
Hawaiian Islands Invitational (Soccer) and ESPN National Golf Challenge

For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.