Perhaps other results in the remaining SEC schedule will render it moot, but the postponed LSU-Florida game is shaping up to be a potential nightmare for the conference.
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva went on ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge on Friday morning and cast doubt on the schools' ability to reschedule the high-profile matchup.
"It’s going to be very difficult," Alleva said. "That’s all I’m going to say about it right now, but the scenarios I see down the road are going to require some serious changing of schedules."
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Alleva's frustration was evident throughout the interview, though he went out of his way to talk about how much respect he has for the Florida athletic department and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. Alleva reiterated his comments from Thursday that LSU "made every effort" to get the game this weekend, from traveling to play the game in Gainesville as scheduled to hosting the Gators in Baton Rouge to flying in Sunday morning to play at Florida and flying out later in the day.
"My only point is that we at LSU tried everything that we could to get the game in," Alleva said. "We would have done anything to get the game in — anything. That’s my only point. And their point is it was about safety. I cannot argue with safety, OK? … The safety of people is the ultimate goal. But we were willing to play anywhere we needed to play."
He also admitted that part of the "total frustration" his staff was feeling Friday was that other games in areas impacted by the hurricane all appear set to be played sometime this weekend. Florida State is scheduled to play at Miami on Saturday night, while Georgia will visit South Carolina in a game moved to Sunday afternoon. Florida Atlantic postponed its game against Charlotte but is tentatively scheduled to play it Sunday afternoon, as well.
Alleva emphatically denied an ESPN report that Florida had offered to cancel its Nov. 19 game against Presbyterian and play the game then if LSU canceled its scheduled matchup with South Alabama that day, calling it a "flat-out lie" and "total garbage."
Without that option, though, there is no clear path forward. And that could be a problem if either school finds itself in contention to reach the SEC Championship Game. The Gators (2-1 in SEC play) are currently second to Tennessee (2-0) in the East and LSU (2-1) is third behind Texas A&M (3-0) and Alabama (2-0) in the West.
The conference's bylaws say division winners are determined by winning percentage, not overall wins, so there's a chance Florida could finish 6-1 and Tennessee 6-2 in conference play. That outcome would give Florida the division title, and certainly would not sit well in Knoxville after the Vols' 38-28 win over the Gators last month.
"They do have to play that football game," Tennessee coach Butch Jones told 104.5 The Zone in Nashville on Thursday. "… I know the SEC will do the right thing and they'll make that happen. But we have no control over that."
Rest assured that those who do have control — namely, the SEC office — will hear plenty from LSU, Florida, Tennessee and others as they try to sort out the aftermath.
