LSU AD Joe Alleva unsure if game against Florida will be played

HurricaneMatthew is on track to make landfall in Daytona Beach just 70 miles from Gainesville pushing the SEC to postpone Saturday’s matchup between the LSU Tigers and Florida Gators.

“It became clear that the University of Florida could neither host nor travel to a game this weekend considering the circumstances”, said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. We know it won’t take place this weekend, as talks about possibly moving the game to a site other than Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville broke down quickly, with Florida (understandably) insistent on keeping the game at home. The Gators and Bulldogs now have byes October 22, a week before LSU’s open date.

Two other schools in Florida have moved their games scheduled for this weekend.

If Florida didn’t want to play their home game in Baton Rouge, the Superdome was available. Florida, meanwhile, has a chance to finish against a remaining slate of Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas and SC. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, wrote a letter to Florida Gov. Rick Scott urging him to force UF to either relocate or postpone the game.

If Florida wins its remaining SEC games against Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas and SC, and Tennessee loses its next two games to Texas A&M and Alabama, and beats SC and Kentucky the Gators would be 6-1 in the league as of November 19, and Tennessee would be 4-2 with remaining games against Missouri and Vanderbilt. It also might end up screwing Tennessee. LSU’s only non-conference game left in the season is on November 19, when the Tigers hosts South Alabama for Senior Day. However, LSU president F. King Alexander told The Advocate the game could be shifted to Saturday night. I think everybody in this room understands how the University of Florida feels about playing LSU. Play the game in Baton Rouge or play it on the moon, I don’t care. But there are things to assess before deciding if the FSU-Miami and Titans-Dolphins games can absolutely be played, namely if it’s safe for fans to be on the roads and whether police departments have the resources to simultaneously handle football crowds and storm-devastated areas. This is not about not wanting to play a football game. LSU and Florida began talking about changing the time or place of the game on Tuesday and Florida declined to move the game to Baton Rouge as SC did last season.

Florida is now half a game behind Tennessee in the SEC East, while LSU is a full game behind Texas A&M in the SEC West.

“There’s really not a lot of opportunities to make it up”, LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva said on Thursday. If either team finishes 6-1 in conference play, they would not win their division over a team that finishes 7-1.

– Friday’s East Coast Hockey League preseason game in Estero between the Orlando Solar Bears and Florida Everblades has been canceled.