A few scheduling nuggets, early season and postseason, for your Thursday evening or Friday reading pleasure.
The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier reports that the Charleston Classic field will look slightly different than previous reports (including from the tournament's own January press release) indicated.
Georgetown is in, but Arkansas isn't on the list. (This makes sense as the Razorbacks are penciled into the Chicago Invitational, as listed on my Early Season Events post.)
Charlotte, East Carolina, and N.C State are confirmed, but defending Southern Conference champion Wofford will be the host conference's representative. The Terriers, from Spartanburg on the other side of South Carolina) replace The Citadel, who were listed as the original host.
The Hoyas and what should be an improved Wolfpack team are the star attractions, but watch out for the Terriers, who could grab a marquee win or two.
In other scheduling news, our Syracuse blog, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, has a post about a Syracuse-N.C. State home-and-home that will start with the coming season. That series is just another addition to non-conference schedules for both teams that already include some nice matchups. The Orange play Michigan State in the Jimmy V Classic (sorry, Sean, I'm not going to pump the Cornell game up that much because of all they lost after their Sweet 16 run) and will face two of Georgia Tech, Michigan, and UTEP in Atlantic City for the Legends Classic. The Wolfpack have a road game with Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and a home date with Arizona alongside their three games in Charleston.
The Orange Bowl Classic doubleheader is set for December 18, in Sunrise, just outside of Fort Lauderdale, with Florida and Miami returning to the event. The Gators face Kansas State, coached my Miami's own Frank Martin. These two could have met in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, had the Gators won their overtime clash with BYU in Oklahoma City. The other game features the Hurricanes, who could contend in the ACC, against UCF, led by new head coach Donnie Jones, a former Billy Donovan assistant at Florida. I may have to arrange my Christmas holiday to check this doubleheader out.
In a piece of postseason news, the Conference USA Tournament keeps moving West, as Tulsa, 2010's host, gives way to El Paso for 2011. As Eamonn Brennan at ESPN points out, that means the conference championship game, which airs on CBS on Selection Eve at 11:30 Eastern, will tip at 9:30 a.m. local time. (Be sure to check out Geoff Calkins' Commercial-Appeal column on this decision for some righteous anger and irriration.)
Also, for easy reference, II've finally created new Conference Challenge and Early Season Event pages with information for the upcoming season.