Charleston Classic 2013: Teams, Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket, TV Info

Preseason college basketball tournaments are nothing new. The practice has been around decades and has become universally accepted within the sport. Network-owned and operated tourneys? That's a relatively new phenomenon, as we'll see again this year at the 2013 Charleston Classic.

The event, held every year since 2008, is owned by ESPN and housed on its family of networks. In terms of scope and the level of competition, it pales in comparison to events like the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Preseason NIT and even the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. No. 19 New Mexico is just the second ranked team in history to participate, joining Baylor from a season ago.

The other seven participants—UAB, Clemson, Davidson, Georgia, UMass, Nebraska and Temple—have all had varying successes in the past and present. It is neither the grand mecca of early-season college basketball nor worth totally ignoring. The Charleston Classic is like many early tournaments—there if you need a fix of college basketball, but not something that will scar you for life if you miss a couple games.

But if you drop out on the whole thing, it could mean missing some solid basketball. New Mexico comes in as the unquestioned favorite, yet it's hard to see the Lobos rampaging through without running into some trouble at least once. Playing three games over a four-day weekend is dangerous at this time of the year, and that could mean some upsets for the fans in attendance.

With that in mind, let's check in everything you need to know about the 2013 Charleston Classic.

Tournament Information

When: Nov. 21-22 and 24 (see schedule for times)

Where: TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.

Watch: Various ESPN-affiliated networks

Game No.	Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	Watch	Stream
1	Nebraska vs. UMass	Nov. 21	12:30 p.m.	ESPN3	WatchESPN
2	UAB vs. New Mexico	Nov. 21	3 p.m.	ESPNU	WatchESPN
3	Georgia vs. Davidson	Nov. 21	5 p.m.	ESPNU	WatchESPN
4	Temple vs. Clemson	Nov. 21	7:30 p.m.	ESPN3	WatchESPN
5	Loser No. 1 vs. Loser No. 2	Nov. 22	12 p.m.	ESPNU/3	WatchESPN
6	Winner No. 1 vs. Winner No. 2	Nov. 22	2:30 p.m.	ESPN2/U	WatchESPN
7	Loser No. 3 vs. Loser No. 4	Nov. 22	7 p.m.	ESPN3	WatchESPN
8	Winner No. 3 vs. Winner No. 4	Nov. 22	9:30 p.m.	ESPNU	WatchESPN
9	Loser No. 5 vs. Loser No. 7 (7th Place)	Nov. 24	1:30 p.m.	ESPN3	WatchESPN
10	Winner No. 5 vs. Winner No. 7 (5th Place)	Nov. 24	3:30 p.m.	ESPN3	WatchESPN
11	Loser No. 6 vs. Loser No. 8 (3rd Place)	Nov. 24	6:30 p.m.	ESPNU	WatchESPN
12	Winner No. 6 vs. Winner No. 8	Nov. 24	9 p.m.	ESPN2	WatchESPN

Tournament Preview

Coming in, it feels like this tournament was tailor-made to send New Mexico vaulting into the Top 15. Returning all their significant contributors other than Tony Snell, the Lobos have jumped out to a dominant start and look like one of the best offensive teams in the country.

Cameron Bairstow and Alex Kirk are both scoring more than 20 points per game, and they would certainly take the 18.5 points and 8.5 assists Kendall Williams is putting up each night. Those are unsustainable numbers, of course. Much like many other Top 25 programs, New Mexico has spent its first couple weeks of the season pulverizing overmatched opponents into looking like rec-league squads.

Nonetheless, Steve Alford didn't leave the cupboards bare when he hightailed it in the dead of night for UCLA. The Lobos are easily the favorites to win the event, and Craig Neal provides a stabilizing force on the bench and has ratcheted up the pace a bit. New Mexico has moved the ball really well in its first two games and shouldn't have all that much trouble getting past UAB in the first round.

The Blazers are off to a 3-0 start, including a close win over Rutgers, but there's a whole heck of a lot of fool's gold to be found. C.J. Washington has been sensational at the outset, shooting 62.5 percent while averaging 20 points and 8.3 rebounds. But UAB has rebounded the ball at an astounding rate to start the season—51.3 boards per game, fourth in the nation—and that won't keep up. Kirk and Bairstow can more than match the size inside of Washington and Fahro Alihodzic and are frankly just better.

Where New Mexico might have its most trouble, however, is in the semifinals—assuming UMass can get past a 3-0 Nebraska team. Wait, what? The Cornhuskers are 3-0? [looks at schedule] Oh, OK. Makes much more sense now.

So, again, assuming that the Minutemen can overcome the mighty Cornhuskers, the true Charleston Classic championship could happen in the semis. UMass is expected to compete on the fringes of the revamped Atlantic 10 this year and has gotten plenty of encouraging signs in its 3-0 start. Chaz Williams is raining from distance and averaging nearly eight assists per night. The Brooklyn native seems destined to make an impact this season and become the latest undersized guard to win over A-10 fans. 

Cady Lalanne has also been making lives miserable on the inside. With wins over Boston College and LSU already, the Minutemen are proving they can handle major-conference competition—even if it isn't the best.

The bottom half of the bracket presents a dichotomy between expectation and reality. In most seasons, Davidson and Temple would be the top two contenders to take on New Mexico without question. Really, the Owls would probably be the favorite. They're a tournament team on almost an annual basis, and Fran Dunphy has had just one season with fewer than 20 wins at Temple.

However, this may be his second. The Owls have started out the season 1-2, having lost to Towson and Kent State; they even played Penn close. While this inexperienced roster might improve by the time American Athletic Conference play starts, it seems unlikely to do so now.

With Davidson also in a bit of a rebuilding phase, New Mexico's challenger might be...Clemson? The Tigers are off to a 3-0 start in which they've played stellar, lockdown defense. Junior forward K.J. Daniels has been all over the place, and he could be on the precipice of a season-long breakout.

Either way, it's hard to see any other result than New Mexico rampaging through with three relatively easy wins.

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