The biggest early-season game this college basketball season tips off on Friday night. The Gonzaga Bulldogs and Michigan State Spartans are facing off in the 2022 Armed Forces Classic where the teams are playing on an aircraft carrier again, a gimmick many college basketball fans will remember from a decade ago. You won’t believe it, but a problem has surfaced.
Michigan State will shoot at this basket in the first half. Look where the sun is! Will be very hard to make shots from here. I just heard one player say “I can’t see s—-.” By the time Gonzaga shoots here second half the sun will be down. pic.twitter.com/NduVM4tIGB
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 11, 2022
CBS college basketball analyst Seth Davis tweeted, “Michigan State will shoot at this basket in the first half. Look where the sun is! Will be very hard to make shots from here. I just heard one player say ‘I can’t see s—.’ By the time Gonzaga shoots here second half the sun will be down.”
There was a reason why this all stopped happening in the first place. The games were constantly delayed and/or canceled due to condensation- and weather-related issues. When we learned the games were coming back, there were plenty had reservations about it. And while they were reportedly going to every end to ensure no weather-related issues would rise to the surface, I guess nobody accounted for the sun.
Hopefully, Michigan State and Gonzaga are able to play a clean game on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The college basketball world reacted just how you’d expect.
The aircraft carrier game is so dumb lol https://t.co/8SrG6fEzTm
— Chris Stone (@cstonehoops) November 11, 2022
What could go wrong? https://t.co/UyZYuHSRX5
— Chris Williamson (@CWilliamson44) November 11, 2022
So Gonzaga by 20… https://t.co/7gYyfmEmsP
— Ian Hest 🟦 (@IanHest) November 11, 2022
Not great! https://t.co/WKxWeUDoop
— Andrew Hammond (@ahammALDC) November 11, 2022
Concept of this game is fantastic. Execution is always (understandably) terrible. https://t.co/i1uja6k0oT
— Jake Winderman (@jakewinderman) November 11, 2022