The Ohio State men’s basketball team opens the 2012 season on an aircraft carrier, and the schedule only gets better from there.

The Buckeyes will travel to Charleston, S.C. for the Carrier Classic where they will play Marquette on Nov. 9 on the deck of the U.S.S. Yorktown, which is now a museum ship . From there, OSU will compete in 19 games against postseason teams from last season. Ten of those teams competed in the 2012 NCAA Tournament and an additional four teams played in the 2012 National Invitation Tournament.

The Buckeyes will play a challenging non-conference schedule that features the game against Marquette, a trip to Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium on Nov. 28, and a chance for revenge at home against the Kansas Jayhawks. On Dec. 22. Kansas beat OSU on Dec. 10, 2011, during the regular season, 78-67, and knocked the Buckeyes out of the NCAA Tournament in a national semifinal game March 31, 64-62, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

OSU’s 31-game regular season schedule also includes home and away conference series with Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Wisconsin and defending Big Ten regular season co-champion and Big Ten Tournament champion Michigan State.

After finishing the 2011-12 season with a 31-8 record, the Buckeyes return nine players from the team that made a run to the 2012 Final Four.

Former guard William Buford departed after completing his four years in the program, while former big man Jared Sullinger left the program after two seasons. Sullinger was then selected by the Boston Celtics with the 21st overall selection in the NBA Draft’s first round.

Junior forward Deshaun Thomas was named a preseason All-American Wednesday by the 2012-13 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.

The start time for OSU’s game against Marquette has not been announced.