Saturday’s LSU-Florida game has been canceled due to Hurricane Matthew, the conference announced Thursday.
The schools will work to reschedule the game but they do not have bye weeks that line up. The parties “will work to reschedule the game later in the 2016 season if possible,” the SEC said. “[T]he schools and SEC Office will make every effort to find a scheduling solution with the possible movement of other games on the schools’ schedules.”
The Tampa Bay Times notes that LSU is slated to play Southern Alabama and Florida will host Presbyterian on Nove. 19. LSU would follow that game with a contest against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving Day but it may be pushed back. The Presbyterian game with LSU has a buyout of about $500,000 and the South Alabama buyout is about $1.5 million for Florida.
Louisiana senator David Vitter sent a letter to Florida governor Rick Scott on Thursday urging for the game to be called off.
The hurricane is expected to impact central and northern Florida on Friday.
“The timing of this storm on a Friday and the uncertainly of its aftermath in the ensuing days make it particularly difficult to project the conditions for the remainder of the weekend as well as the opportunity for travel of teams and fans to or from Gainesville and other cities in Florida,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “I am appreciative of the cooperation of our universities on this matter.”
The storm is forcing teams across several sports to alter their plans. South Carolina and Georgia now plan to play their game on Sunday.
