Hurricane Ian forces changes to college football schedule

Hurricane Ian is the first major hurricane to hit the Tampa Bay area since 1921. The National Hurricane Center has forecasted a “near worst-case scenario” to occur on Thursday this week.

This resulted in sporting events being rescheduled and moved to new locations. There have been at least three college football games changing their schedules.

The Florida Gators’ home game against the Eastern Washington Eagles was postponed 24 hours from its initial schedule this Saturday at noon. The game will now play on Sunday in Gainsville.

“With Hurricane Ian building into a powerful and potentially very impactful storm on the Bay Area, the people and resources in our community, we felt it was in everyone’s best interest to move our game out of the Tampa Bay area,” University of South Florida VP of athletics Michael Kelly said.

The game between the South Florida Bulls and the East Carolina Pirates was scheduled for this Saturday at 7 p.m. local time at Raymond James Stadium, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ home turf. However, the Bulls and Pirates will now play on Saturday at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton at 2:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina Gamecocks’ game against SC State Bulldogs at Williams-Brice Stadium was moved to Thursday night from Saturday instead.

“Due to the potential impact of the hurricane on Columbia and the surrounding area, it is in the best interest of safety to play the game on Thursday rather than Saturday afternoon,” Gamecocks athletic director Ray Tanner said.

On the other hand, major sporting teams based in the Tampa Bay area—the Bucs and NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning have taken measures for their games in the wake of the hurricane forecast. The Bucs moved their football operations to the Miami Dolphins’ Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, Florida, while the Lightning postponed two preseason home matchups this week.