2nd Annual CARRIER CLASSIC Airs on NBC Sports Today, 11/9

The second annual CARRIER CLASSIC will tip off today, November 9, 2012, Veterans' Day Weekend from a new location: the highly decorated aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in Mt. Pleasant, SC. The expanded twin bill event will feature both an NCAA Men's and Women's game. The Men's game will showcase 2012 NCAA Final Four participant Ohio State and NCAA Sweet 16 participant Marquette. In the Women's game, Notre Dame, the 2012 NCAA championship runner up, will take on Ohio State, which finished No. 16 in the AP Top 25. The Women's game expands the Carrier Classic and enables Morale and its sponsors the opportunity to elevate awareness of women's critical role in service to our country.

Both the Men's and Women's games will be telecast on NBC Sports Network. The Men's game between Marquette and Ohio State will tip-off live at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Women's game between Notre Dame and Ohio State will air at 11 p.m. ET.

Morale also announced Dial Global has acquired the rights to the audio content for all of the 2012 Carrier Classic game. Dial Global is America's leading provider and distributor of audio content to more than 8,500 radio stations nationwide.

Last year's inaugural Carrier Classic, featuring North Carolina and Michigan State, played in San Diego on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson, captured the imagination of college basketball fans throughout the country. The inaugural Carrier Classic was named one of the year's Top 5 sports events by the Sports Business Journal.

Over 8,000 veterans and active duty military men and women attended the game, along with the nation's Commander-In-Chief, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. The event and its sponsors raised over $500,000 to benefit the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, the Wounded Warrior Project and the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

This year's Carrier Classic will again benefit the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and The Wounded Warrior Project, and adds The Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

A LOOK AT THE 2012 MATCH UPS

The Ohio State Men's team, led by ninth-year head coach Thad Matta, finished 31-8 last season. The Buckeye's reached the NCAA Final Four and will return junior Deshaun Thomas, a 2012-13 pre-season All-America selection. Marquette Coach Buzz Williams has taken the Warriors to consecutive appearances in the NCAA Sweet 16 and finished 27-8 last season.

The women basketball match-up features two of the NCAA's most successful coaches. Notre Dame's Muffet McGraw has compiled a 679-256 record in her 30 years as the Fighting Irish head coach, including the 2001 national championship. Interestingly enough, McGraw began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant to Ohio State's Jim Foster when both were at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Foster will enter his 11th season at Ohio State and 30th as a college head coach, and has compiled a 765-294 mark.

ABOUT THE USS YORKTOWN AND PARTIOTS POINT

The Patriots Point facility with 367 acres of park and camping is home to the iconic USS Yorktown, which will be transformed into a unique 4000 seat sports arena utilizing the designs created by Morale for the first Carrier Classic held in San Diego on board the USS Carl Vinson in 2011.

The Patriots Point complex encompasses a park and green spaces adjacent to the Yorktown, and will host ceremonies and relevant activities acknowledging Veterans Day, the attending service personnel, and their families. The grounds are home to a number of unique pocket museums including the docked submarine Clamagore, the newly restored destroyer USS Laffey, a Cold War Memorial, and a Viet Nam era base camp. The aviation exhibit recently received a "10 Rating" from the Navy Tail Hook Society for housing restored examples of the most famous carrier based aircraft flown in American military actions. The facility is also home to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and Museum.

ABOUT MORALE ENTERTAINMENT FOUNDATION

The Carrier Classic is produced by Morale Entertainment Foundation, creators and producers of the inaugural 2011 Veterans Day Carrier Classic Basketball Game, and the Best of America Troop Tour Series. Morale takes pride in creating sports and entertainment events that raise appreciation for our Military. Its mission is to "Make Every Day Veterans Day."