Hurricane Matthew has wreaked havoc on both the Caribbean and Southeastern portion of the United States over the last few days, and now it is impacting the sports world as well. On Thursday, the SEC announced that the LSU-Florida game scheduled for Saturday in Gainesville has been postponed.
The league office will work to re-schedule the game later in the season if it is possible.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement about the decision, which included this excerpt:
“We had a very productive phone call today with a great spirit of cooperation between the universities’ presidents and athletics directors and 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. “The developments of the hurricane in the last 24 hours, the projected magnitude of its impact and the unknown aftermath of this storm have resulted in this decision to seek another date to play the LSU-Florida game. We have to be sensitive to the possible imminent disruption to the state of Florida and in particular the Gainesville and surrounding area.”
Obviously the most important thing to consider is the safety and well-being of the players, coaches and fans traveling to the game. But beyond that, this news is disappointing for college football fans. LSU-Florida is one of the sport's most exciting rivalries, and there was extra appeal coming into this week after Ed Orgeron's impressive debut as the Tigers' interim head coach.
LSU-Florida isn't the only game impacted by Hurricane Matthew. Earlier on Thursday, Florida Atlantic announced its game with Charlotte, which had been scheduled for Saturday, would be moved to Sunday afternoon.
The #LSUvsUF football game scheduled for Sat. in Gainesville has been postponed due to #HurricaneMatthew.
— SEC (@SEC) October 6, 2016
RELEASE: https://t.co/LeMOWfnVmq
