We're not the only ones playing on a ship next year...

[MU86NC]

Florida, Georgetown to play on ship
Updated: June 15, 2012, 1:24 PM ET
By Andy Katz | ESPN.com


The Carrier Classic on Veterans Day on the unique calendar date 11-11-11 was a watershed event in college basketball. Now it has become a full-blown trend.

Florida will play Georgetown on a ship Nov. 9 off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., multiple SEC and Big East sources confirmed Friday to ESPN.com.

The U.S. Navy has told the two schools that it is fully supportive of the game, much as it was with the Carrier Classic last year, according to multiple sources.

The Florida-Georgetown matchup is the third game scheduled to be played on a naval ship Nov. 9, college basketball's opening day. All three involve a Big East team.

Marquette will play Ohio State on a ship off the coast of Charleston, S.C., and Syracuse will take on San Diego State on the flight deck of a retired ship, the USS Midway, off the coast of San Diego.

It is not clear if the Florida-Georgetown or Marquette-Ohio State games will be played on active ships.

Television commitments for the three games haven't been made at this point.

Last year's Carrier Classic was a test to see if such a spectacle could work, and the event was deemed a success.

The atmosphere off Coronado Island, across the water from San Diego, didn't disappoint as top-ranked North Carolina defeated Michigan State in front President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and thousands of military personnel, in addition to the millions watching on ESPN.

The trio of games this year involve multiple teams that will be in contention for top-25 rankings.

Georgetown, Marquette and Syracuse all have been projected in the upper half of the Big East. Florida will be one of the three favorites in the new 14-team SEC, and Ohio State once again likely will be one of the top three teams in the Big Ten entering the season.

San Diego State is expected to be picked second, behind UNLV, in the Mountain West for the regular-season title.

Florida and Georgetown both also are involved in the SEC-Big East Challenge.

The Hoyas face a loaded November schedule, highlighted by their matchup with the Gators and an SEC-Big East Challenge game at home against upstart Tennessee.

Georgetown also will participate in the Legends Classic, with projected top-10 teams Indiana, UCLA and Georgia.

The matchups for that tournament are still to be determined, but the Hoyas will play at least one game against Indiana or UCLA.

[Bocephys]

Well that's kind of a bummer.

[chapman]

It is not clear if the Florida-Georgetown or Marquette-Ohio State games will be played on active ships.

Actually Andy, it's clear that MU-OSU will not be.

[ken8406]

Were weren't the first for next year anyway. The Syracuse and San Diego State had been scheduled to play on the USS Midway since April.

[BrewCity83]

The biggest bummer is that they are all on the same night.

[GGGG]

So the bloom has gone off of that rose...but a non-conference game v. Ohio State is nice anyway.

[brewcity77]

So the bloom has gone off of that rose...but a non-conference game v. Ohio State is nice anyway.

Feel like that's all this is now. Oh well. Still a great game to get, but I think it'd be better if there were only one of these games per year. One last year, 3-4 this year, 10-20 next year, then the shine will be off and they'll go away. Maybe start looking into playing on top of a skyscraper?

[Bocephys]

Feel like that's all this is now. Oh well. Still a great game to get, but I think it'd be better if there were only one of these games per year. One last year, 3-4 this year, 10-20 next year, then the shine will be off and they'll go away. Maybe start looking into playing on top of a skyscraper?

Tennis beat us to it.  http://inhabitat.com/world%E2%80%99s-highest-tennis-court-was-a-green-roof-atop-the-burj-al-arab-in-dubai/

[Benny B]

So six (instead of four) teams out of 347 get to play on a carrier this year, and now we're unhappy?!?  Dang... Marquette is elite after all.


I can imagine the phone call in Broeker's office now:  "Well geez, Kentucky... we'd love to play you at the United Center, but you're already playing 10 other teams in non-con this year... it's just not exclusive enough."

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I'd love to see the badgers play on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

[4everwarriors]

They're practicin' on pontoons on Lake Mendota as we type.

[Nukem2]

In the end, the games do honor those in uniform........