Aircraft carrier games thrown off by wet floor

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes and Marquette Golden Eagles were set to tip off their seasons at 7 p.m. Friday on the USS Yorktown in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

But any open-air game is subject to change.

The Carrier Classic was one of two aircraft carrier games to be called off Friday because of condensation on the court.

The announcement was made nearly an hour after the game was set to start.

"In the best interest of the players, we're not going to play the game," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said on NBC Sports Network. "The condensation just keeps coming back."

Both Matta and Marquette coach Buzz Williams cited safety as the chief reason for deciding not to play the game. Players from both teams warmed up on the court for 20 minutes while officials waited for cooler temperatures to reduce condensation, but neither coach was comfortable after the period elapsed.

Williams said he wasn't sure whether the game would be played at a later date, but he wasn't optimistic about the odds of finding another date.

"I don't know how we could reschedule it within this current calendar," Williams said.

How bad was the floor? Let Marquette forward Steve Taylor show you (thanks to Sporting News' Ryan Fagan for the video).

Probably not the best way to demonstrate the playing conditions after Williams harped on player safety, but we're sure glad Taylor pulled that move.

Georgetown and No. 10 Florida didn't fare much better. The Hoyas and Gators were able to get through one half at the Navy-Marine Corps Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., but the game was called after the floor started to resemble a Slip 'N Slide.

The canceled game won't count toward either team's record, according to Florida Today's David Jones.

Maybe now we can get back to holding basketball games in arenas.