Due to ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States Navy sunk plans for MSU men's basketball to play aboard an aircraft carrier.

The U.S. Navy said all its battleships need to be ready for action.

The plan called for MSU to face the Navy and for the Air Force to play North Carolina in a season-opening doubleheader on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11. Portable grandstands with an 8,000-spectator capacity were planned for the flight deck, and proceeds from the event were to go to families of American soldiers killed in recent military operations.

MSU associate athletic director Mark Hollis developed the idea and was trying to organize the event, but said the timing of the plan turned out to be less than ideal.

"The intent of event was to help Americans, to generate around $750,000 for families of soldiers killed abroad," Hollis said. "It just turned out that with so many uncertainties going on right now, perhaps it wasn't the best time to do it."

When the plan was announced earlier this month, MSU officials were quick to point out that the Department of Defense had to give approval for use of a carrier.

The game wouldn't have been the first basketball game played on a carrier deck. In 1967, the Harlem Globetrotters played aboard the USS Enterprise.

But it would have been one of a few once-in-a-lifetime MSU games. On Oct. 6, 2001, MSU men's hockey battled Michigan in front of 74,554 fans at Spartan Stadium in the Cold War. The university marketing department was behind the Dec. 13 BasketBowl at Ford Field, where MSU played Kentucky amidst 78,129 fans.

Hollis said that despite the plan's rejection, he might try submitting to the Defense Department again next season.

"We'll have to see how things work out with next season's schedule," he said. "But as far as whether I would try doing it again, absolutely."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.