(CHAPEL HILL) -- Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt was invited by President Obama and Mrs. Obama to San Diego to attend the Carrier Classic featuring a basketball game between the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan State Spartans.

The game will be played on the deck of the United State Navy Aircraft Carrier -- The USS Carl Vinson -- that buried Osama bin Laden at sea.

More than 7,000 fans, including Mayor Kleinschmidt, will board the carrier to see the teams battle in the first match on an active flat top. Attendees will include active military personnel and their families, veterans, selected guests from the participating universities, and other stakeholders. Tickets are not for sale to the general public.

"This Veterans Day, President Obama will honor our nation's veterans by laying a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery and then by traveling to San Diego, California, to attend the Carrier Classic on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson," the White House said in a statement. "He looks forward to a great game between Michigan State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."

The game, a rematch of the epic 2009 NCAA Championship final, will be the first college basketball contest of the 2011-2012 season televised on ESPN. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.