The eight-team field is announced for the 2011 Charleston Classic set to be held Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 17, 18 & 20, at Carolina First Arena in Charleston, S.C. The field for the fourth annual Charleston Classic includes Georgia Tech, LSU, Saint Joseph’s, Seton Hall, Tulsa, Virginia Commonwealth, Western Kentucky and Baylor, currently ranked No. 14 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

Five of the eight teams reached the 2010 postseason: Baylor and Georgia Tech played in the NCAA Championship, while Seton Hall and Tulsa earned National Invitation Tournament berths. Virginia Commonwealth won the College Basketball Invitational.

The 2011 Charleston Classic, a bracket-format 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 Sunday, Nov. 20.

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

Atlantic Coast Conference teams won the first two Charleston Classics, with Miami (Fla.) winning in 2009 and Clemson taking the title in the inaugural tournament in 2008.

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.

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

ESPN Regional Television/Event Ownership
The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming, ESPN Regional Television (ERT) annually produces more than 1,000 telecasts of sporting events. Programming includes football, basketball, NCAA events, golf and NHRA events accounting for more than 2,200 live and/or original hours of programming. In addition to event ownership, ERT is the production headquarters for ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network; syndication rights-holder and producer of national, regional and local shows for college conferences (e.g. – SEC, BIG EAST, Big 12, Mid-American, WAC).

ESPN Regional Television markets and/or owns several sporting events, including collegiate football events: Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg; Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl; BBVA Compass Bowl (Birmingham, Ala.); MAACO Bowl Las Vegas; New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque); Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (Honolulu); Texas Bowl (Houston); MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney (Orlando, Fla.) and The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards. Collegiate basketball events: 76 Classic (Anaheim, Calif.); Cancun Governor’s Cup; Charleston Classic (S.C.); DIRECTV SEC/BIG EAST Invitational; Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Honolulu); Old Spice Classic (Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla.); Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off (San Juan); Lane Furniture All-College Basketball Classic (Oklahoma City) and BracketBusters; as well as the new ESPNU Warrior Classic (Lacrosse) and the ESPN National Golf Challenge. For more information, visit ESPNPlus.com.

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Media Contacts: Charley Green, Media Coordinator, 214-734-8028, [email protected]; Rachel Margolis, ESPN, 860-766-2798 or [email protected]