The Carrier Classic, the outdoor college basketball game played on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson, received ESPN's highest-ever rating for a game played in November.
The cable network said Monday that Friday night's game between top-ranked North Carolina and Michigan State drew a 2.7 rating (3.859 million viewers), the highest college basketball game in November since the network started keeping records in 1991.
The game, won by North Carolina 67-55, was ESPN's most-watched college basketball game since North Carolina-Duke was seen by 3.78 million households in March 2006.
The previous high for a November game was the Preseason NIT championship in 1992 between Indiana and Seton Hall, which also posted a 2.7 rating.
Ratings measure the percentage of all households with televisions tuned into a program.