What the federal government shutdown means for college football games this week

What the government shutdown means for service academies' football teams this Saturday.

Danny Wild-Imagn Images

College football games involving military service academies will not be affected by the federal government shutdown that went into effect at midnight.

All three service academies will play their games this coming weekend, officials from the schools confirmed to The Athletic.

Air Force goes on the road against Navy in Annapolis, and Army will host UAB at West Point, with both games scheduled for 12 p.m. Eastern time.

Service academy games will be played despite the shutdown because of how they employ nonprofit funding for their athletic departments that shields them from any potential interruptions in federal budgets.

Navy has operated its athletic programs, including its football team, independently of any government money, and Army moved into a similar model back in 2017.

Air Force created the Air Force Academy Athletic Corporation to run its athletic operations, including expenses for travel and other logistics.

By employing these systems outside the realm of federal funding, all the service academies are able to fund themselves independently and go ahead with their football games.

But the schools will be affected by the government shutdown in one way, as team websites may load slower than usual and livestreams of home games will not be offered.

Air Force athletic events were briefly canceled during a government shutdown early in 2018, and a shutdown in 2013 nearly forced the school to forego a road football game against Navy before a last-minute intervention.

Air Force is 1-3 entering this weekend and is yet to win a game against FBS competition while looking to avoid what would be its first set of consecutive losses against Navy in more than a decade.

Navy is 4-0 behind college football’s top-ranked rushing attack with quarterback Blake Horvath and tailback Alex Tecza leading the charge.

The Midshipmen average 352 yards per game rushing and are second in FBS with 18 rushing touchdowns while averaging 6.46 yards per carry.

Army owns a road win against preseason Big 12 title favorite Kansas State this season, but is 1-3 coming into Week 6 and looking for what would be a second-straight win over UAB.

The Black Knights are fourth in the country in rushing with 286 yards per game. Air Force is not far behind either, placing 7th in college football with 254 rushing yards on average.

The federal government shut down at midnight after the U.S. Congress failed to reach a deal on how to fund government operations.

The shutdown is expected to last at least until Friday, when lawmakers are currently scheduled to return to Washington.

(Athletic)

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