MIAMI -- Florida State and Miami may have to wait a few days
before playing their season opener.
School officials were strongly considering postponing the game
five days from Monday to Sept. 11 because of Hurricane Frances.
They were expected to announce a decision Thursday.
"We'd like to play it, but I'm not sure it's in the cards,"
Florida State president T.K. Wetherell said Wednesday.
Wetherell said evacuations along Florida's east coast would
cause travel problems for fans, band members and others heading
south to the Orange Bowl. The hurricane also could be moving
through Tallahassee on Sunday or Monday.
"I'm not sure we want to be gone with all that going on,"
Wetherell said.
ABC executives and officials from both schools were discussing
proposals Wednesday for rescheduling the game. A likely scenario
would move it to Saturday, Sept. 11.
Miami has had two games postponed because of hurricanes in
the last seven years.
The Hurricanes had a game against UCLA postponed more than two
months in 1998 because of Hurricane Georges, and one against
Temple was delayed nearly three months in 1999 because of Hurricane
Irene.
The game between Miami (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) and Florida State (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 5 AP) was
scheduled to be the only prime-time game on Labor Day.
"I hope it still works, but it sure doesn't look good,"
Wetherell said.
Frances, a Category 4 hurricane with 140-mph top sustained
winds, was due near Florida's Atlantic coast late Friday or early
Saturday.
The threat of the hurricane forced Hampton and Jackson State to
move their season opener Saturday from Orlando's Citrus Bowl to
Virginia.
The season opener between Florida (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) against Middle Tennessee State in Gainesville has been moved from Saturday night to Oct. 16.
"Even if the path changes and our area is not affected, we must be sensitive to state evacuation plans and the availability of medical and emergency personnel in other areas of the state," Florida AD Jeremy Foley said in a statement Thursday.
Also, Savannah State and Bethune-Cookman are scheduled to play in Jacksonville, and Florida International also plays against Jacksonville on
Thursday in Miami.
In baseball, the Florida Marlins had not decided whether to postpone any of this weekend's three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. A possible solution could be a Friday doubleheader, with the third game played when the Marlins travel to Chicago for a scheduled three-game series Sept. 10-12.
The Florida State League canceled its final three days of games
in the East Division, starting Friday, but play in the West will
continue. Daytona Beach-Vero Beach playoffs were to start Tuesday,
but league president Chuck Murphy said that could change if Frances
damages stadiums.
Also Wednesday, the University of Florida men's basketball team
postponed a weekend trip to the Bahamas. The trip will be
rescheduled after this year.