The impacts of Tuesday's government shutdown in the United States have trickled into the realm of collegiate athletics.
With the shutdown at 12:01 Tuesday morning, intercollegiate athletics at Army, Navy and Air Force have been suspended by the U.S. Department of Defense. Duke is slated to face Navy Oct. 12 in its next home contest.
Duke has yet to release a statement regarding the status of its game against Navy or potential alternatives that could be scheduled in its place.
Should the Midshipmen be unable to make the trip to Durham, the game would not count as a forfeit victory for the Blue Devils, but rather be dubbed as no contest, which would not count as a victory for Duke or a win toward the six required for bowl eligibility.
The Blue Devils are 2-0 against nonconference opponents this season. Without a game against Navy, Duke's road to a second consecutive bowl appearance for the first time in program history only gets tougher.
The Midshipmen cancelled their men's soccer match against Howard Tuesday night. An official statement regarding the status of this weekend's scheduled football game against Air Force is set to be made Thursday at noon, per the team's press release.
A local NBC affiliate in Denver reported Tuesday afternoon that Air Force had suspended its travel plans to play Navy Saturday. According to an Air Force press release, Saturday's game will be cancelled.
No plans have yet been release to schedule another opponent for Oct. 12 should Navy be unable to make the trip. Army is slated to play Eastern Michigan the same weekend, and Air Force will take on San Diego State.
When the U.S. government last shut down, beginning with a five-day period in November 1995, all three service academies played their games the day before the shutdown ended. The difference that year was that Army, Navy and Air Force all played at home on that weekend.
Road travel is considered nonessential by the Defense Department and could not be funded by a government-run institution during the shutdown. Army and Air Force were both originally slated to play on the road this weekend.
This post was last updated at 5:57 p.m.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.