LSU at Florida postponed due to Hurricane Matthew

Florida’s home game vs. LSU has been postponed because of Hurricane Matthew. The game was set to be played at noon ET on Saturday.

“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,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “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.”

A rescheduling of the game is tough because neither team has an open date. The game may be needed to help determine the champions in the SEC East and SEC West before the SEC Championship Game. Each team has one conference loss so far.

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The SEC said it would “make every effort to find a scheduling solution with the possible movement of other games on the schools’ schedules.” A possible date could be Nov. 19. Both Florida (Presbyterian) and LSU (South Alabama) have non-conference games lined up on those dates.

The SEC could help the schools buy out those games if necessary, especially given the potential conference ramifications of the game. It would also mean three straight road games for LSU. The Tigers play at Arkansas and at Texas A&M the weeks before and after the South Alabama game.

Tennessee coach Butch Jones wants the game made up for obvious reasons. The team with the best winning percentage at the end of the season wins the division title, meaning a 6-1 team (like Florida, or even LSU) would have the advantage over a team that goes 6-2 in the division.

The league also said the possibility of moving the game to LSU’s Tiger Stadium was discussed but the idea was nixed. South Carolina traveled to LSU for a game that was supposed to be played in South Carolina in 2015 because of flooding in the area.

The SEC said LSU offered to host the Gators on Saturday but Florida AD Jeremy Foley said Thursday afternoon that the logistics of the trip weren’t feasible.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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