BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WGNO) – The LSU-Florida football game scheduled for Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., has been postponed due to Hurricane Matthew. The universities and the SEC Office will work to reschedule the game later in the 2016 season if possible.
“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.”
At this time the schools do not have a common open date on which to reschedule the game, so the schools and SEC Office will make every effort to find a scheduling solution with the possible movement of other games on the schools’ schedules.
Before deciding to postpone the game, the schools and SEC explored other date and location options, and LSU offered to either travel or host the game over the course of the weekend. Ultimately it was determined that the likelihood of damage from the storm, lack of available emergency personnel and the uncertainty of the impact of the storm on people, facilities and travel necessitated a postponement.
“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,” Sankey said. “I am appreciative of the cooperation of our universities on this matter.”
“We have worked all week with local, state, campus and conference officials,” said UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley. “I know there will be a lot of opinions about how we came to this conclusion and when we came to the conclusion, but this is the right decision. I fully support the Southeastern Conference’s decision to cancel the game.”
For the latest updates from the Florida Division of Emergency Management visit their official site (www.floridadisaster.org) or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Ticket information will be communicated to those who have purchased tickets to the game.
