The Armed Forces Classic still will feature the No. 1 Huskies and No. 20 Louisville on Nov. 4, but with a change of venue.
The season opener for No. 1 UConn’s women’s basketball team against No. 20 Louisville has been relocated.
The game, part of the annual Armed Forces Classic series, was scheduled to be played at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Nov. 4. Because of the federal government shutdown, the base is operating with essential staff only and cannot accommodate the game.
Instead, the contest will be played the same day at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Clint Overby, the vice president of ESPN Events, made the announcement Thursday night.
“We’ve made the decision to move the 2025 Peraton Armed Forces Classic to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.,” he said. “For more than a decade, this event has celebrated the lives and contributions of our military, and we’re appreciative of the Naval Academy for helping provide a first-class venue for this first-ever women’s college basketball matchup that will showcase perennial powers Louisville and UConn.”
It will be televised on ESPN at 5:30 p.m.
The Baltimore Banner reported that the teams will face off at Alumni Hall at the academy, which seats 5,710. It has hosted several prominent people to speak to the brigade, including former presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, as well as Margaret Thatcher when she served as Great Britain’s prime minister.
This is the first Armed Forces Classic to feature women’s teams.
The UConn men played in the first-ever event on Nov. 9, 2012, inside a C-5 transport airplane hangar at Ramstein Air Base. The unranked Huskies defeated No. 14 Michigan State 66-62.
The air base also hosted Texas A&M vs. West Virginia in 2017.
Both UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and his counterpart, Louisville’s Jeff Walz, were excited when the game was announced almost a year ago.
“We want to do as much as we possibly can, both personally and team-wise, to support our armed forces,” Auriemma said then. “I’m glad we’re getting the opportunity to go overseas and have many of our military members see us play in person. I know it’ll be an experience of a lifetime for everyone in our program.”
Walz concurred.
“We are extremely thankful to be selected for the 2025 Armed Forces Classic,” he said. “It will be an incredible experience for our players and staff to play in front of some of our nation’s heroes overseas. We look forward to the opportunity to showcase women’s basketball on an international stage.”
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