Buffs Draw Dayton At Charleston Classic

The 2012-2013 schedule comes on the heels of Thursday's announcement of the eight-team 2012 Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant. CU will play the University of Dayton Flyers in the opening round of the three-day event that will be played Thursday, Friday and Sunday, Nov. 15, 16 & 18, at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.  

Joining the Buffaloes and Dayton are Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, Charleston, Murray State and St. John's. CU will play Dayton in the first game of the Classic at 10:30 a.m. (MT) on ESPN3. The Flyers are one of four teams in the Charleston Classic to win 20 games in 2011-12 and reside in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Dayton was 20-13 last season with a 9-7 mark in conference play (tying for fifth) and advancing to the NIT first round.

CU/Dayton will play either Baylor or Boston College in the semifinal (10:30 a.m. MT) or the consolation round (12:30 p.m. MT) with both games televised by ESPNU.    

"The Charleston Classic is a great field for us to be in, in terms of finding out where our program is on a national level," said CU men's basketball head coach Tad Boyle. "There are some nationally ranked caliber teams in this tournament and it's an opportunity to find out with a young team (six freshmen) like we're going to have real quick.  It will be much like Puerto Rico was for us last year."

"It's an opportunity to play quality teams on a neutral floor and give us a good base of where we need to go as the season progresses. It's also a great time of year early in the schedule before Thanksgiving, plus it will give us exposure through the ESPN Networks of being on national TV." 

Prior to the Charleston Classic, the Buffaloes will open the 2012-2013 season at home against Wofford (Fri., Nov. 9). From there, CU will play five of its remaining eight non-conference games at the Coors Events Center where the Buffs are 15-1 over the two years under Boyle during the November and December months. CU will host Air Force (Sun., Nov. 25), Texas Southern (Wed., Nov. 28), 2011-12 NCAA Tournament and in-state rival Colorado State (Wed., Dec. 5), Northern Arizona (Fri., Dec. 21), and Hartford (Sat., Dec. 29). 

Road games during non-conference play are Wyoming (Sat., Dec. 1), Kansas (Sat., Dec. 8, Noon, ESPN2), and Fresno State (Wed., Dec. 12).

All times and game days with the exception of the Charleston Classic are TBA and subject to change to accommodate television.  

Unlike last year when CU began the inaugural Pac-12 Conference season with three straight home games, the Buffs will open on the road and begin its defense of the conference title at Arizona (Thu., Jan. 3) and at Arizona State (Sun., Jan. 6).

From there, USC (Thu., Jan. 10) and UCLA (Sat., Jan. 12) will both make their first visits to Boulder since 1968 and 1962, respectively, while the Buffs take to the road at NIT Semifinal opponent Washington (Wed., Jan. 16) for the first time since 1996, and CBI Finals runner up Washington State (Sat., Jan. 19) for the first time ever.

CU will round out the first month of the conference season at home against NIT Champion Stanford (Thu., Jan. 24) and NCAA Tournament opponent California (Sun., Jan. 27).

February begins conference play with a school-first not seen since the 1946-47 season (Mountain States Conference) with three-straight road games (at Utah, Sat., Feb. 2; at Oregon, Thu., Feb. 7; at Oregon State, Sun. Feb. 10). However, CU returns home for three-straight similar to the way it opened conference play a year ago against NIT representative Arizona (Thu., Feb. 14), Arizona State (Sat., Feb. 16) and Utah (Thu., Feb. 21).

CU closes the rest of February at Stanford (Wed., Feb. 27) and begins March at California (Sat., Mar. 2), then ending the conference regular season at home against NIT quarterfinal foe Oregon (Thu., Mar. 7) and Oregon State (Sat., Mar. 9).

The Pac-12 Conference Tournament will be played for the first time in Las Vegas (March 13-16) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the next three years.

2012 Charleston Classic Notes
ESPN3 will have six exclusive games and ESPNU will air five, while the Championship Game will be shown on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 p.m. MT on ESPN2. All games will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com and through smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider. The on-site games from the Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant will air on ESPN3D.

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. Additional information, including travel packages, can be found on the Charleston Classic website.

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).

Charleston Classic Highlights

• CU's match ups with the field: Auburn: last played in 1996, CU leads 1-0; Baylor: at the 2011-12 NCAA Tournament Third Round, CU leads 15-10; Boston College: never played; College of Charleston: last played in 2004, CU leads 1-0; Dayton: last played 1987, series tied 1-1; Murray State: last played in 2000, CU leads 1-0; St. John's: last played 1941, CU leads 3-1.
• It's the sixth straight year CU will be playing an in-season tournament. Last year, the Buffs travelled to Puerto Rico (1-2 record); in 2010-11 went to Las Vegas (1-1); in 2009-10 (Maui Invitational) and 2008-09 (Rainbow Classic), CU travelled to the Hawaiian Islands (each with a 1-2 record); and in 2007-08, participated at the America's Youth Classic in Madison, Wis. (0-1).
• CU last won an in-season tournament in 2002-03 at the Pepsi Classic in Charlotte, N.C. winning all three games in three days.
• Men's preseason ESPN.com Top-25 poll Baylor is ranked No. 11 and will face Boston College in first-round action at 1 p.m. on ESPNU.
• Also on ESPNU, St. John's and College of Charleston will battle at 3 p.m.
• ESPN3 will carry the Dayton vs. Colorado game at 10:30 a.m. and Murray State vs. Auburn at 6 p.m.
• Baylor and Colorado faced off in the 2012 NCAA Championship third round, with third-seeded Baylor ultimately advancing to the Elite Eight, while Dayton earned an NIT berth.

Charleston Classic presented by Foster Grant (Schedule subject to change)

Charleston Classic Breakdown of the Eight Schools Participating
(2011-12 Record/Conference Record/Place/Postseason):

Colorado: 24-14 (11-7/t-5th); Pac-12 Tournament Champions; Postseason: NCAA Third Round.
Auburn: 15-16 (5-11/t-10th); Southeastern; Postseason: SEC Tourney 1st Round.
Baylor: 30-8 (12-6/t-3rd); Big 12; Postseason: NCAA Elite Eight.
Boston College: 9-22 (4-12/t-9th); Atlantic Coast; Postseason: ACC Tourney 1st Round.
College of Charleston: 19-12 (10-8/t-4th); Southern; Postseason: Southern Conference Tourney 1st Round.
Dayton: 20-13 (9-7/t-5th); Atlantic 10; Postseason: NIT 1st Round.
Murray State: 31-2 (15-1/1st); Ohio Valley; Postseason: NCAA Round of 32.
St. John's: 13-19 (6-12/t-11th); Big East; Postseason: Big East Tourney 1st Round.