November 18, 2011

Seven Teams Named to 2012 DIRECTV Charleston Classic Field Presented by Foster Grant

Five of Seven Teams Reached Postseason Action in 2011

The 2012 DIRECTV Charleston Classic Presented by Foster Grant, set to be held Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 15, 16 & 18, at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C., has secured seven of the eight team field. Teams in this year’s tournament include Baylor, Boston College, Charleston, Colorado, Dayton, St. John’s and SIU.

Tournament field

• Baylor is ranked No. 12 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll – released Thursday, Oct. 20, despite not playing in the postseason last year, while St. John’s is receiving votes in the poll
• St. John’s earned a second round berth to the NCAA Championship
• Colorado advanced to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) semifinals, Charleston was a quarterfinalist and Boston College and Dayton each earned berths to the postseason tournament

Tournament information

The 2012 Charleston Classic 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 Sunday, Nov. 20.

The Southern Conference (SoCon) will serve as the event’s sponsoring conference for the fifth straight year.

Georgetown won the 2010 Charleston Classic, with Miami winning in 2009 and Clemson taking the title in the inaugural tournament in 2008.

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


Travel information

This family-friendly tournament offers the teams a week of practice, play and experiences in-and-around historic Charleston. Additional information, including travel packages, can be found on the Charleston Classic Web site at www.charlestonclassic.com.

Fans can purchase official hotel accommodations and game tickets by going to http://www.anthonytravel.com/espn/charleston-classic or by calling 888-632-6951. For more information on the event, go to www.charlestonclassic.com and for event updates, follow on Twitter and www.facebook.com/charlestonclassic.

ESPN Regional Television
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
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Dallas-Fort Worth); BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; Gildan New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (Houston); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards

Collegiate Basketball
76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); State Farm Champions Classic (Madison Square Garden; debuts 2011); DIRECTV Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant (S.C.); Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); 5-hour ENERGY® Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and Sears BracketBusters

Collegiate Lacrosse
ESPNU Warrior Classic

Additional Events
Hawaiian Islands Invitational (Soccer) and ESPN National Golf Challenge


For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.