As first reported by Jon Rothstein, Michigan is working to schedule a neutral-site game against Duke in Washington, D.C. during the upcoming season.

Rothstein reports that the game will be played in February 2026 at Capital One Arena.

The Wolverines are also scheduled to face Wake Forest in Detroit, play at TCU and play in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas as part of their non-conference schedule in 2025-26. Keep track of all future scheduled dates here.

Michigan and Duke haven’t played each other since 2013, a 79-69 Duke win at Cameron Indoor.

The Wolverines last played at Capital One Arena in 2017 when they won four games in four days to win the Big Ten Tournament after a plane crash delayed their arrival earlier in the week.

WASHINGTON – Faced with looming concerns about D.C. budget cuts, a group of parents, child care providers and businesses staged a “day of action” — warning that cuts to early childhood education could make it harder for parents to hold on to their jobs.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s emergency budget could cut $400 million from current spending. Child care advocates tell FOX 5 they’re very concerned.

But looking ahead, the 2026 budget is already facing a $1 billion deficit over the next three years, driven in part by hits to D.C.’s economy from federal job cuts by the Trump administration.

Local perspective:

A group called Under 3 DC walked the halls of the Wilson Building Tuesday, urging city officials to spare child care and early childhood programs from the chopping block. Bowser acknowledged that “investments in kids” fueled the last economic renaissance in the District — but said with the tough forecast ahead, spending will need to be prioritized.

“When you ask me how we will prioritize those things? We’ll look to our budget for ‘26—which we’re excited about—and look forward to being able to give it to the council very soon,” said Bowser. 

The backstory:

Bowser is putting a freeze on new spending as the District deals with a massive budget problem created by Congress. 

As of right now, there are no planned closures to District facilities or plans to stop any services. No furloughs either. But the city’s memo makes it clear that all of those things are on the table.

City officials have to formulate a budget that is $410 million lower between now and Sept. 30.

D.C. leaders would not give an estimate of how much these freezes will save but the frustration caused by Congress is palpable. The District has the money it needs to remain fully functional but they can’t spend it because of a mistake in the federal spending bill. 

The Senate passed a fix and the president supports the fix but the House has not voted on it and they don’t return until the end of the month.

“I thought that because we had a bipartisan bill that came out of the Senate, we had the full-throated support of the President of the United States. This bill doesn’t save one penny of federal dollars and it was perfectly teed up for a vote, that’s why,” she said. 

The City Administrator has to give a plan to the mayor about further reducing money spent through potential furloughs or facility closures.

The mayor says that the plan cannot close schools but does give the city administrator the authority to terminate contracts, leases or other ways to reduce.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser made her first public remarks on the expected deal worth more than $3 billion to bring the Commanders back to the District.

Last week, News4 was first to report the team and city are approaching a deal to build a new stadium at the RFK Stadium site. It would have the team put up as much as $2.5 billion and the District as much as $850 million.

At a press event Monday to celebrate a mixed-use development at the Deanwood Metro station in Ward 7, reporters asked Bowser for details. While she was set on avoiding direct discussion of the stadium deal, she reiterated her support for investing in stadiums as she prepares to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the city’s budget.

“I think that D.C. residents, especially D.C. residents right here in Ward 7, are very excited about world-class sports. They were excited about the Washington Nationals, the Washington Wizards, the Washington Capitals, the Washington Mystics, DC United. They know we’re the sports capital and they know what that means for our economy,” she said. “But more than that, I look forward in a couple of days [to] presenting our ideas about how we address a shifting economy.

“And our economy is shifting because of federal government decisions about people, headquarters and the like,” Bowser continued. “And so Deputy Mayor Albert and I, and our entire team, is very focused on how we prepare D.C. for a different economy. And a big, big bright spot in our economy is entertainment and sports. So, we’re gonna be presenting to the council a very robust plan about how we change our economy to get ready for the future.”

Bowser was asked specifically about the Homes Not Stadiums effort by some residents. They’re seeking a ballot initiative to block stadium plans.

“We are looking forward to discussing with the community affordable housing. I can’t speak on any fervor. I don’t see fervor. The fervor I see is for bringing our team home,” she said.

Organizers of the Homes Not Stadiums movement would need about 23,000 signatures form D.C. voters to get the measure on the June ballot. Several ballot initiatives have been successful in shaping D.C. law in recent years, including on minimum wage for tipped workers, decriminalizing cannabis and, most recently, ranked choice voting.

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