With the shutdown of the federal government in its second day Wednesday, there was no resolution regarding the status of the two games Saturday involving service academy teams.
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Army is scheduled to play at Boston College in BC's homecoming game, and Air Force and Navy are scheduled to play at Navy in a game that is sold out. The Naval Academy said in a release Tuesday that an announcement about the game would be made public before noon Thursday.
The Department of Defense on Tuesday suspended all intercollegiate athletic competitions at the service academies. If the shutdown ends, the athletics suspension immediately ceases.
The Air Force-Navy game is the first in a series of three service academy matchups for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. The game is scheduled for a national telecast on CBS at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Navy was planning to honor its 1963 team at Saturday's game. That season, former Midshipmen QB Roger Staubach won the Heisman -- the last service academy player to do so -- and led Navy to the Cotton Bowl. That is the last major bowl appearance by Navy. The coach of that team, Wayne Hardin, also was to be singled out; he is being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame later this year.
Tom Lynch, captain of the 1963 team and later an admiral and the Naval Academy superintendent, told the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Md., the reunion would go on regardless.
"It's disgraceful that our government is so inept, that our leadership is so inept, that there is serious consideration to canceling a great service academy rivalry game such as this," he told the Gazette.
Boston College athletic director Brad Bates tweeted Wednesday morning that his school has been "considering and engaging all possibilities in order to play the game, including offering financial assistance to Army for travel."
On its official Twitter feed, United Airlines tweeted Wednesday that it was offering to fly Air Force for free to the game at Navy.
A Department of Defense official told NFL.com on Tuesday that "gifted travel costs" would have to undergo a legal review. If an offer passes legal muster, the Secretary of Defense would then also have to sign off on it.
Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk told the Capital Gazette that the academy's athletic department runs without any government funds.
"In talking to the Air Force athletic director, their football team could execute the trip without government funding," Gladchuk said.
If that is the case, why not play the game?
"It's a perception thing," Gladchuk told the newspaper. "Apparently, it doesn't resonate with all the other government agencies that have been shut down."
Gladchuk also said canceling the game would cost the athletic department about $4 million.
If the games are postponed, there are no makeup dates for either game available unless the teams want to play Dec. 7. That is the day of the ACC title game and the Mountain West Conference championship game. Boston College is in the ACC, and Air Force is in the MWC.
If the games are canceled, it could hurt Army and Navy in their bids to become bowl-eligible. Each is guaranteed a spot in a bowl if it reaches the NCAA-mandated six wins, Army in the Poinsettia, Navy in the Armed Forces. Navy is 2-1, and Army is 2-3.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
