The '15 Armed Forces Classic college basketball game "will be held at the Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan, between perennial NCAA-bound tournament teams Gonzaga and Pitt," according to Andy Katz of ESPN.com. The '16 event, the last one in the current five-year cycle, will "originate from the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu a few weeks shy of the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor." But this "unique event will be a doubleheader," featuring Kansas-Indiana and Arizona-Michigan State. The selection of Arizona "makes sense" with one of the sunken ships at Pearl Harbor being the U.S.S. Arizona. The '15 game "will be on Nov. 13" while the '16 games will be held on Nov. 11." All three games will air on ESPN (ESPN.com, 11/14).
COASTIE WITH THE MOSTIE: In Louisville, Jeff Greer noted the Minnesota-Louisville college basketball game on Friday was played in a U.S. Coast Guard hangar in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and the beginning of the game matched the "buzzing atmosphere of the some 1,400 U.S. Coast Guard personnel who filled the roll-up bleachers with their off-duty blue uniforms." But the entirety of the game "didn't quite match up with the stunning backdrops provided." Coast Guard personnel "simply seemed happy to have a national event at their base" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 11/15). In Minneapolis, Amelia Rayno noted inside the hangar, a helicopter and a cutter "sat adjacent to each bench set up along the newly installed wooden floor." The crowd "hovered over the court, snapping pictures and cheering" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/15).
ANCHORS AWAY: In Annapolis, Gerry Jackson wrote the Naval Academy "hasn't seen anything quite like the Quicken Loans Veterans Classic" Basketball HOFer David Robinson was "prowling the courts for the Midshipmen two and a half decades ago." Friday night's event at Navy's Alumni Hall featured two games, Tennessee-VCU and Michigan State-Navy, and the nationally televised event on CBS Sports Network saw "more than 5,000 packed into the Annapolis facility." This was a "grand night for Navy athletics." The game was a "hot ticket with only about 100 of the $75 seats remaining minutes before tip-off of the first game." VCU coach Shaka Smart said, "It was a first-class event. The people at the Naval Academy did an unbelievable job. Any team that has an opportunity to come here should make sure they get here." Navy "signed a four-year deal with CBS to host the event." Navy Deputy AD Eric Ruden said that the academy is "in the process of finalizing agreements with schools for next year's event and that those programs promise to be high-profile teams as well" (Annapolis CAPITAL GAZETTE, 11/15).
