Gonzaga, Michigan State to Play on Aircraft Carrier for 2022 Veterans Day Game

The contest marks the first time in a decade that a college basketball game has been played on the water.

College basketball is returning to the water in the 2022 season.

Gonzaga and Michigan State will face each other in the 2022 Armed Forces Classic on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the San Diego harbor on Nov. 11. The game, which will be televised on ESPN and will commemorate Veterans Day, marks the first time a college basketball game has been played on the water in a decade.

The two programs worked with the U.S. government to organize the game, becoming the sixth pair of college basketball teams to play on an aircraft carrier. The Spartans played in the first Armed Forces Classic in 2012 when they faced Connecticut at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany in a C-5 transport airline hangar.

Michigan State also played in the inaugural Carrier Classic, which was played on the U.S.S Carl Vinson against North Carolina on Nov. 11, 2011, in San Diego. The game featured former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama along with servicemen and women. 

According to Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney, Gonzaga is projected to be as high as No. 2 when the college hoops season resumes. Currently, Michigan State is not ranked on the list. However, a game featuring the Bulldogs and the Spartans and two outstanding coaches—Mark Few and Tom Izzo—will not lack excitement or intensity.

Izzo once thought that playing on an aircraft carrier was a “once-in-a lifetime” experience. This fall, the longtime Spartans coach will get to experience that level of excitement again.

“The experience we had in 2011 when we played North Carolina on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson was one of the most humbling experiences of my career,” Izzo said in a statement. “This opportunity to play on an aircraft carrier in front of men and women who serve in the military and are willing to put their lives on the line is an experience that is going to mean something to the young men who will play in the game for a long, long time.”

The Bulldogs will make their second appearance in the Armed Forces Classic this fall. Gonzaga faced Pittsburgh in 2015 at U.S. Marine Corps Base Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. However, Gonzaga is 1–4 all-time against Michigan State with the two teams last meeting in 2011. The Spartans defeated the Bulldogs 74–67 behind now four-time NBA champion Draymond Green’s 34-point performance.

Other aircraft matchups include the 2012 matchup between Florida and Georgetown near the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 9. However, that game was canceled at halftime due to condensation on the court. The Marquette and Ohio State contest in November 2012 was also canceled to condensation issues while San Diego State and Syracuse faced off on the USS Midway in San Diego on Nov. 11, 2012. 

The college basketball season will begin on Nov. 7. 

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