The United States government shutdown has had a profound effect on many areas of people's lives, and now, it's officially reaching the women's college basketball sphere. Defending champions and top-seeded UConn women's basketball were scheduled to face off against No. 20 Louisville at Ramstein Air Base in Miesenbach, Germany, but now the November 4 contest has to be moved stateside to the Naval Academy.

The Huskies and Cardinals were slated to be the first two women's basketball teams in history to play in the Armed Forces Classic, which was set to take place at Ramstein for the third time. ESPN apparently made the call to move the game's location with military bases operating at reduced levels due to the shutdown, which has been ongoing since October 1.

Louisville head coach Jeff Walz expressed his feelings over the decision to host the game in Maryland instead of overseas to the Associated Press.

“We're excited to have [the] opportunity to play at the academy. It's going to be a great experience for our players,” Walz began. “Everyone was excited about going to Germany and playing at Ramstein, but we will make the best of this.”

Walz went on to describe how his Cardinals squad planned to make the best of the change. “We were going to head over to Germany a few days earlier and have a scavenger hunt in a castle on Halloween,” he explained.

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However, Walz said they will pivot to checking out the museums in the Annapolis area instead to make the most of their trip. “There's so much history there that hopefully things are open for us to see,” Walz said.

ESPN Events vice president Clint Overby released a statement about the move.

“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,” Overby said.

The UConn men's team previously played in the inaugural Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein in 2012. Texas A&M and West Virginia played in the event the second time it took place at the Miesenbach base in 2017.