The UConn women’s basketball team’s season opener against Louisville, scheduled to be played at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, could be in jeopardy if the ongoing government shutdown continues into November.
The Huskies are set to face the Cardinals on the U.S. Air Force base on Nov. 4 as part of ESPN’s Armed Forces Classic. They would be the first women’s teams to play a game in the classic, which has been a men’s basketball event since it debuted in 2012.
But military bases are operating at drastically reduced capacity amid the shutdown, which began on Oct. 1 when Congress was unable to pass a bill funding federal government services before the end of the fiscal year. With no end in sight, Louisville coach Jeff Walz said there’s a chance the game won’t be played in Germany during Louisville’s Tipoff Luncheon on Monday.
“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.”
The shutdown is currently in its third week, and it is just the fourth government shutdown in American history that has lasted longer than a week. The longest-ever shutdown was in 2018-19 and lasted 35 days. If a deal is not reached by the scheduled date of the Huskies’ season opener, the current shutdown would tie that record.
According to multiple reports, the parties will meet next week for a conference call to discuss alternative options for the game. UConn still owes Louisville a home game as part of their four-year contract. The Cardinals came to Hartford in 2023, and the teams met last year at Barclays Center in Brooklyn as part of the Women’s Champions Classic. WDRB reported that this year’s matchup could be moved to Louisville without changing the date.
“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,” an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement to The Courant.
The Armed Forces Classic has been played nine times, twice previously on the Ramstein Air Base in 2012 and 2017. The UConn men’s team played in the inaugural game in 2012, upsetting No. 14 Michigan State as an unranked squad in Kevin Ollie’s first season. Games have also been held over the last decade on various bases both domestic (California, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas) and international (Korea, Japan, Puerto Rico).
