Impact Analysis: What the postponement of Florida-LSU means
Landon Watnick | Beat Writer
There’s been plenty of discussion about the state of the Florida-LSU game over the past couple of days in the wake of Hurricane Matthew – and on Thursday it intensified when the SEC Office announced that the contest, originally set for Saturday at noon ET in The Swamp, would be postponed.
Plenty of fans have questions about the possibility of rescheduling, what this means in the SEC standings and more. Now, Inside the Gators takes a closer look at it all with an Impact Analysis.
USA Today Sports
RESCHEDULING POSSIBILITIES
During his press conference Thursday, retiring Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley made it clear that the Gators want to play against LSU this season – and that the school will follow in whichever direction the league leads it to.
“Whatever scenario they come up with we’re going to be in favor of,” Foley said. “Whatever scenario that is brought up to us, that makes it work, that they think is workable, the University of Florida is going to be in favor of that.”
The most floated-around possibility has been playing the game in Gainesville on Nov. 19 and having Florida and LSU buy out their respective non-conference opponents on that date, Presbyterian and South Alabama.
Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples added to the idea, proposing that Presbyterian and South Alabama play each other that weekend if Florida and LSU were to square off on Nov. 19.
While Florida would be open to that scenario, LSU doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of it. First off, the Tigers’ buyout for South Alabama is reportedly $1.5 million. Florida’s for Presbyterian is “a little less than half a million dollars,” according to Foley.
The Tigers would lose a home game in that scenario – and while the SEC has a lost-revenue insurance policy for all 14 of its schools, the loss of a home game in Tiger Stadium would certainly be a hit for local businesses in Baton Rouge.
There’s also the fact as well that LSU would have to play three consecutive home games if the Nov. 19 scenario were to go down – at Arkansas on Nov. 12, at Florida and then at Texas A&M on Nov. 24. Not to mention, before that stretch LSU hosts Alabama on Nov. 5. Talk about what would be a difficult November.
All of those reasons do not leave much surprise as to why LSU reportedly turned down that possibility in discussions with UF and the SEC this week.
Moving the Florida-Georgia matchup up one week to Oct. 22 in place of both squads’ bye week and then holding Florida-LSU on Oct. 29, during the Tigers’ bye week, has been a possibility also thrown around by fans. However, that may be an unrealistic one, with a number of contracts already in place for that Florida-Georgia contest to take place on that date at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
If both Florida and LSU are officially eliminated from the hunt in their respective divisions when the rest of the teams in the SEC complete their conference slates, there’s always the option that both teams could square off in Gainesville on Dec. 3 the day of the SEC Championship Game. We’ll see if that becomes an available one, though.
HOW THIS AFFECTS THE SEC EAST RACE FOR FLORIDA
If Florida’s contest against LSU is ultimately canceled altogether, it could end up being a decision that benefits the Gators down the road.
Considering the SEC East winner will be decided by whichever team has the best winning percentage in the conference, the situation still remains the same. Florida (2-1 SEC) needs Tennessee (2-0 SEC) to lose one more conference game than it would.
If Florida were to win out and Tennessee lost two games, a 6-1 Gators team would advance to Atlanta rather than a 6-2 Vols squad. The same goes for a 5-2 Florida team versus a 5-3 Volunteers team, etc.
The Gators would have just Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina remaining on their SEC slate and wouldn’t have to play an LSU team that was favored over them this weekend, while Tennessee has Texas A&M, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt left on the schedule.
If the game is canceled and Florida was to advance to Atlanta by the aforementioned scenario, one could imagine that Tennessee fans wouldn't be too pleased.
A MUCH-NEEDED WEEKEND OFF FOR INJURED GATORS
For a Florida squad banged up at multiple positions, having this weekend off – and two byes in the next three weeks – is certainly helpful.
Many expected Luke Del Rio (sprained MCL) to suit up this weekend, after the redshirt sophomore quarterback participated in practices this week and entered the week with the mindset that he’d be playing. Now, it’s almost certain that he’d be fully available for the Missouri contest on Oct. 15 in The Swamp.
The off weekend gives a handful of ailing players like left tackle David Sharpe (shoulder), defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. (leg), defensive tackle Caleb Brantley (hand) and linebacker Daniel McMillian (neck/trap), among others, a much-needed break. However, it’s still unlikely that defensive end Jordan Sherit, who had arthroscopic surgery on his knee this week, and nose tackle Joey Ivie, who underwent surgery on his thumb last week, would be available in time for the Mizzou game. A possible return for both would be the Georgia game on Oct. 29.
In addition, this off weekend gives the Gators more time to start preparing and focusing on scouting reports for Missouri. It almost puts the Gators at even ground with Mizzou, which also has a bye this weekend.
Landon Watnick | Beat Writer
There’s been plenty of discussion about the state of the Florida-LSU game over the past couple of days in the wake of Hurricane Matthew – and on Thursday it intensified when the SEC Office announced that the contest, originally set for Saturday at noon ET in The Swamp, would be postponed.
Plenty of fans have questions about the possibility of rescheduling, what this means in the SEC standings and more. Now, Inside the Gators takes a closer look at it all with an Impact Analysis.
USA Today Sports
RESCHEDULING POSSIBILITIES
During his press conference Thursday, retiring Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley made it clear that the Gators want to play against LSU this season – and that the school will follow in whichever direction the league leads it to.
“Whatever scenario they come up with we’re going to be in favor of,” Foley said. “Whatever scenario that is brought up to us, that makes it work, that they think is workable, the University of Florida is going to be in favor of that.”
The most floated-around possibility has been playing the game in Gainesville on Nov. 19 and having Florida and LSU buy out their respective non-conference opponents on that date, Presbyterian and South Alabama.
Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples added to the idea, proposing that Presbyterian and South Alabama play each other that weekend if Florida and LSU were to square off on Nov. 19.
While Florida would be open to that scenario, LSU doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of it. First off, the Tigers’ buyout for South Alabama is reportedly $1.5 million. Florida’s for Presbyterian is “a little less than half a million dollars,” according to Foley.
The Tigers would lose a home game in that scenario – and while the SEC has a lost-revenue insurance policy for all 14 of its schools, the loss of a home game in Tiger Stadium would certainly be a hit for local businesses in Baton Rouge.
There’s also the fact as well that LSU would have to play three consecutive home games if the Nov. 19 scenario were to go down – at Arkansas on Nov. 12, at Florida and then at Texas A&M on Nov. 24. Not to mention, before that stretch LSU hosts Alabama on Nov. 5. Talk about what would be a difficult November.
All of those reasons do not leave much surprise as to why LSU reportedly turned down that possibility in discussions with UF and the SEC this week.
Moving the Florida-Georgia matchup up one week to Oct. 22 in place of both squads’ bye week and then holding Florida-LSU on Oct. 29, during the Tigers’ bye week, has been a possibility also thrown around by fans. However, that may be an unrealistic one, with a number of contracts already in place for that Florida-Georgia contest to take place on that date at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.
If both Florida and LSU are officially eliminated from the hunt in their respective divisions when the rest of the teams in the SEC complete their conference slates, there’s always the option that both teams could square off in Gainesville on Dec. 3 the day of the SEC Championship Game. We’ll see if that becomes an available one, though.
HOW THIS AFFECTS THE SEC EAST RACE FOR FLORIDA
If Florida’s contest against LSU is ultimately canceled altogether, it could end up being a decision that benefits the Gators down the road.
Considering the SEC East winner will be decided by whichever team has the best winning percentage in the conference, the situation still remains the same. Florida (2-1 SEC) needs Tennessee (2-0 SEC) to lose one more conference game than it would.
If Florida were to win out and Tennessee lost two games, a 6-1 Gators team would advance to Atlanta rather than a 6-2 Vols squad. The same goes for a 5-2 Florida team versus a 5-3 Volunteers team, etc.
The Gators would have just Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina remaining on their SEC slate and wouldn’t have to play an LSU team that was favored over them this weekend, while Tennessee has Texas A&M, Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt left on the schedule.
If the game is canceled and Florida was to advance to Atlanta by the aforementioned scenario, one could imagine that Tennessee fans wouldn't be too pleased.
A MUCH-NEEDED WEEKEND OFF FOR INJURED GATORS
For a Florida squad banged up at multiple positions, having this weekend off – and two byes in the next three weeks – is certainly helpful.
Many expected Luke Del Rio (sprained MCL) to suit up this weekend, after the redshirt sophomore quarterback participated in practices this week and entered the week with the mindset that he’d be playing. Now, it’s almost certain that he’d be fully available for the Missouri contest on Oct. 15 in The Swamp.
The off weekend gives a handful of ailing players like left tackle David Sharpe (shoulder), defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. (leg), defensive tackle Caleb Brantley (hand) and linebacker Daniel McMillian (neck/trap), among others, a much-needed break. However, it’s still unlikely that defensive end Jordan Sherit, who had arthroscopic surgery on his knee this week, and nose tackle Joey Ivie, who underwent surgery on his thumb last week, would be available in time for the Mizzou game. A possible return for both would be the Georgia game on Oct. 29.
In addition, this off weekend gives the Gators more time to start preparing and focusing on scouting reports for Missouri. It almost puts the Gators at even ground with Mizzou, which also has a bye this weekend.
