Louisville and UConn are scheduled to open the women’s college basketball season against each other on Nov. 4 in a marquee clash of nationally-ranked teams at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The Huskies, the reigning national champions, were ranked atop the preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll released earlier this week, while the Cardinals checked in at No. 20.
But now that matchup is in jeopardy.
The government shutdown means that paychecks for active duty military members aren’t rolling in and many facilities are scaling back. The Ramstein Air Base’s website says that “civilian personnel not engaged in excepted activities will be placed in a non-work, non-pay status,” and the American Legion notes that many of the base’s offices and programs are closed or offering “limited services.”
ESPN Events is the organizer of the game, presenting it as part of the Peraton Armed Forces Classic, which has hosted college basketball games at various U.S. military venues across the globe since 2012.
When reached by SB Nation on Wednesday, an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement: “While our goal is to host this year’s Armed Forces Classic as planned at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, we are exploring contingency plans due to the circumstances.”
A spokesperson for Louisville women’s basketball simply said, “The game is still operating as scheduled.” A spokesperson for UConn declined to comment. Requests for comment from the Ramstein Air Base were not immediately returned.
According to sources familiar with the situation, all parties involved are supposed to meet next week about options.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz first publicly raised concerns about the viability of the game earlier this week while speaking at the program’s tip-off luncheon.
“Our first game, as you know, is hopefully going to be on the Air Force base — if we open back up,” Walz said, according to WDRB.“We’re closed right now, our country.”
It’s possible that, should the shutdown continue, it could be moved to a campus site at either Louisville or UConn. It could also remain a neutral site game by moving it to an arena with an open date.
The shutdown is now in its 15th day. It began on Oct. 1 when the Senate failed to advance a House-passed GOP bill to keep the government at existing funding through Nov. 21. Democrats in the Senate are demanding health care policy changes — specifically regarding extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act marketplaces — that President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers have refused to entertain. The bill that passed the House did not include an extension of the health care tax credits. More than 24 million people use the ACA marketplaces to purchase health plans.
News organizations such as the Associated Press, USA Today and CBS have characterized the shutdown as having “no end in sight” as politicians point fingers at each other. NPR said “Republicans and Democrats appear no closer to an agreement” after the Senate failed again on Wednesday — for the ninth time — to advance a bill that would reopen the government.
The last lengthy government shutdown happened during Trump’s first term in office. It began in December 2018 and lasted 35 days — a record for a shutdown. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week that this could be “one of the longest shutdowns in American history.”
Should the shutdown reach the scheduled date of the Louisville versus UConn game, it will have tied the length of the previous record.
If the shutdown ends soon and the game is played as scheduled, it will be the third time the Ramstein Air Base has hosted the Armed Forces Classic. It will be the first time the base has hosted a women’s college basketball game.
UConn is 20-3 all-time vs. Louisville. Two of the last three regular season meetings between the Cardinals and Huskies have been on neutral courts.
