The return of Tom Cruise to the big screen as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick could be influencing a return to one of the more iconic college basketball locales in recent history. According to tweets from both Jon Rothstein and Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, Gonzaga and Michigan State could be looking at reviving the now defunct carrier games from over a decade ago.
The first game played on an aircraft carrier took place November 11, 2011 on the USS Vinson in San Diego as part of ESPN’s Carrier Classic. North Carolina defeated Michigan State in that game as President Barack Obama looked on. Four more games were scheduled the following year in the same fashion, but only two were played to completion thanks to condensation on the court caused by drops in the outside temperature.
