The Florida Gators reportedly refused multiple offers to relocate their game with the LSU Tigers to Baton Rouge on account of Hurricane Matthew.
The Florida Gators’ Week 6 home game against the rival LSU Tigers has been cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew. The SEC decided to postpone the game in the hopes of rescheduling it. However, Florida and LSU don’t have a common open date in 2016.
LSU was 100% on board with letting Florida come play the game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Florida reportedly refused to relocate the game on multiple occasions. Jacques Doucet of WAFB in Baton Rouge tweeted out all the things LSU was willing to do to get this game in Tiger Stadium.
#LSU offered to play Sat/Sunday/Monday either in Baton Rouge or Gainesville. #LSU had secured hotels in BR + NOLA. Even offered #LSU plane.
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) October 6, 2016
Here’s Florida’s soon to be retired athletic director Jeremy Foley’s response. ESPN’s Brett McMurphy tweeted out Foley’s comment.
Florida’s Jeremy Foley said it was “impossible to accommodate” LSU’s proposal to play game in Baton Rouge on Sunday
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 6, 2016
Being offered lodging and a free plane ride sounds like LSU was being pretty accommodating there. Florida just clearly doesn’t want to play in Death Valley if the Gators absolutely don’t have to.
One possibility to make this game work is for both Florida and LSU to buy out their November 19th opponents and play it then. Florida plays FCS Presbyterian, but LSU buying out the Sun Belt’s South Alabama Jaguars is pretty insulting to a fellow Division I program.
Florida might be on the verge of dealing with the aftermath of a Category 4 hurricane, but refusing to cooperate with LSU makes Florida look bad. LSU helped the South Carolina Gamecocks last season when flooding ravaged Columbia before their game. South Carolina took LSU up on their kind gesture.
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Louisiana is a little over a decade away from Hurricane Katrina. The University was just trying to help and Florida’s refusal to cooperate isn’t going to help the Gators win the SEC East on a technicality. Florida can still finish 6-1 in SEC play, while rival Tennessee could fall to 6-2 despite beating the Gators head-to-head.