Charleston Classic Update comes from ESPN's Andy Katz, confirming Murray State's inclusion and a second change:

Murray State went for the sure thing and decided to play in the Charleston (S.C.) Classic over being in a Kansas State NIT Season Tip-Off pod that wouldn’t guarantee a trip to New York for the semifinals. The Racers complete the eight-team field in the Charleston tourney, scheduled for Nov. 15-18, with Baylor, Boston College, Charleston, Colorado, Dayton, St. John’s and Auburn.

This looks to be a very solid field for St. John's to participate in.

The Charleston Classic is hosted by the Southern Conference (the College of Charleston is a member) and ESPN. Murray State returns five seniors and is a good addition. Auburn, under Tony Barbee, have struggled in the SEC. The team has lost six players since last season.

Baylor and Murray State should be favorites, with Colorado and the St. John's Red Storm as the competitive upstarts.

St. John's expects to be far more competitive this season. Along with the return of head coach Steve Lavin, the team returns 73% of the team's minutes and 69% of the scoring, while bringing in talented players for depth. Facing off against another creative and talented squad will sharpen the team's tools or weapons and better prepare them for the rigors and challenges of Big East play.

Last season's Charleston Classic final featured Northwestern and Seton Hall, with the Pirates losing to the Wildcats in a thriller.

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St. John's will travel to Brooklyn to face longtime local rival St. Francis Terriers on December 15th, per the NY Post. And a bonus for the Brooklyn and Manhattan fans - the game will be played in the Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets' new Arena in the Atlantic Center/ Downtown Brooklyn, as part of a tripleheader called Brooklyn Hoops.

The other games will be Michigan vs West Virginia and Princeton vs. Fordham.

In the past ten years, the Red Storm have gone 6-1 against the Terriers of Brooklyn, losing only in 2004 on the night Alumni Hall was renamed Carnesecca Arena.

Former St. John's assistant coach Glenn Braica has a chance to play a marquee opponent in a semi-home setting, though one would think the site would be deemed neutral for ticketing purposes. Current St. John's head coach Steve Lavin gets a chance to take the show on the road and see how the Johnnies draw in Brooklyn; with a deep history in New York City, the Barclays Center's location allows the Red Storm to better cultivate Brooklyn fans.

The Barclays center has been making moves to fill its nights with basketball, with the LIU Blackbirds calling the arena a second home, non-conference December matchups, and the Atlantic 10 Tournament all scheduled to be hosted at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic. And a second session of Brooklyn Hoops will feature Seton Hall vs Long Island and Manhattan College vs. South Carolina.

The Red Storm, coming off of a 13-19 season, hope to rebound with sophomore improvements from the core of their roster and help from the incoming recruits. St. Francis was 15-15 overall, with a 12-6 record in the Northeast Conference.

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Maryland forward Ashton Pankey - originally of the Bronx, once a target of Norm Roberts' when he was the head coach of St. John's, and current Maryland forward is transferring. Per Adam Zagoria's sources, Pankey is looking to transfer closer to home for family reasons. St. John's is one of his schools of interest, along with Iona and Fordham.

The Red Storm technically have two scholarships left - one held for verbal recruit Darrick Wood as he works to get eligible for the 2012-13 season, and one held for a big man like Michael Chandler, a player who can make an impact in the post. Ashton Pankey was a redshirt freshman last year; he could come in as a sophomore if he plays next season. But it's unlikely that he would get a second redshirt, so he runs the risk of losing a year of eligibility.

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According to the NCAA's home attendance figures by Division, conference, and by top-100 programs by average attendance. St. John's maintained a spot in the mid-50s, at 54th this season.

Last season, the Red Storm enjoyed the fourth-largest year to year increase in attendance, as the team introduced new coach Steve Lavin and the senior class finished their careers with a sterling Big East season. Despite the youth of the team and lack of wins, the program's average attendance changed by 3 attendees this season, from 8,431 in 2011 to 8,428 this season.

The Big East as a whole declined in average attendance, from 11,323 per game to 10,881 per game this season; sharp attendance declines at West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and Villanova played a part, and were not offset by increases at programs such as Cincinnati.

The Big East Tournament bested the previous year's average attendance, increasing from 19,375 to 20,057 - the event continues to draw huge crowds to the Garden even with the leagues traditional powers on the sidelines.

A few things remain constant in college basketball - Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville, and Syracuse draw crowds. For the second year in a row, those four teams topped the NCAA basketball attendance charts. For the past five years those four schools have been in the top-5. Wisconsin was fifth this year, knocking off rebuilding Tennessee (seventh).

Surprisingly, Creighton was the sixth-highest men's basketball program in annual attendance.

The Big East programs attendance, with the future Big East members added (in red). South Florida didn't crack the top-100; neither did Southern Methodist or Houston. See the table, below the fold.

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