LSU athletic director Joe Alleva isn’t too optimistic about the ease of rescheduling the Tigers’ game vs. Florida.
Saturday’s game was postponed by the SEC because of Hurricane Matthew. While a rescheduled date wasn’t noted in the conference’s statement, the SEC said it would play the game “if possible.”
Alleva believes the possible is closer to impossible.
“No, I think it’s going to be very difficult,” the athletic director told 104.5 FM in Baton Rouge (via NOLA.com). The scenarios down the road would require some serious changes in schedule.”
The two teams do not have a common open date in 2016. The most logical idea to play the game is Nov. 19. Both LSU and Florida play non-conference opponents that day and can buy out those games.
It’s not as simple as that, however. Adding the Florida game on Nov. 19 would give LSU three consecutive conference road games. We understand why the school would balk at that possibility.
The game could also simply not be made up. But that could create some serious, if not likely, complications. The SEC decides division winners based on winning percentage. A Florida (or LSU) with a 6-1 conference record would get into the SEC Championship Game over a team that was 6-2.
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Tennessee coach Butch Jones already said Thursday that he wanted the game to be made up. And the SEC needs to make sure the game is played. Moving the SEC Championship Game back a week isn’t ideal, but LSU and Florida could play on Dec. 3. The title game could then be held on Dec. 10; the only other game that day is Army-Navy.
The College Football Playoff has a provision to wait for the results of the Army-Navy game if necessary, so it’s doubtful the playoff would be a hold up in that scenario.
Florida State’s game at Miami is still a go for Saturday night as the hurricane major impact was north of Miami. Georgia’s game at South Carolina is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina.
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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!
