Washington to play Texas in basketball in game that counts, in China, in 2015

To open the 2015-16 basketball season, the Washington Huskies are going to play Texas. There will be something special about it though, the game will take place across the Pacific Ocean in China.

According to a press release from the Pac-12, it is part of its "Globalization Initiative." This is an effort by the conference to showcase itself and the member schools to China by use of student athletes. There have already been several exhibitions played overseas, but this is the first time there will be a regular season game featuring a Pac-12 school in China.

In fact, it is the first time that any major U.S. sporting league, whether it be professional or collegiate, has played a regular season game in China. The MLB has opened its season in Japan over the last several years, and the NFL has played games in London, but never has China been a destination.

Texas was chosen as the opposing school because the athletic director, Steve Patterson, has had previous experience with this initiative. While he was athletic director at Arizona State, he had the Sun Devils play exhibition games in China.

The game will take place on Nov. 14, 2015 (Nov. 13 in the U.S.) and will be aired on ESPN.