A massive hurricane is building in the Caribbean Sea south of Florida but appears to be on the verge of making landfall and messing with the Week 5 college football schedule if it gets bad enough.
Hurricane Ian has been building strength near Cuba and is expected to make landfall in the country soon enough. But over the next couple of days, it is expected to move into Florida – and huge swaths of the state are bracing for its impact along with the potential destruction it can cause.
None of the college football games between Thursday and Friday are expected to be affected, but Saturday’s games could be. The biggest potential game to be impact would be Florida’s game against Eastern Washington in Gainesville.
The latest weather reports indicate that the worst of the rain and wind will be over by the time that game kicks off. But if the hurricane causes substantial damage to the surrounding area, leaves it flooded, or causes power outages, the teams may have to call an audible.
HURRICANE IAN LATEST: https://t.co/dwmEvQdvqN
• Expected to strengthen into major hurricane as storm is currently forecast to reach Florida late Thursday
• “Life-threatening” storm surge and hurricane-force winds expected to hit parts of western Cuba starting late Monday pic.twitter.com/gcGU2ITxP1
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 26, 2022
There are several other games set to be played on Saturday afternoon in areas inside the direct path of Hurricane Ian.
Florida State hosts Wake Forest while UCF hosts SMU, both at 3:30 p.m. ET. Later that evening, South Florida will host East Carolina.
Auburn’s big home game against rival LSU is also going to be just outside of Hurricane Ian’s path, which could lead to some heavy rainfall for their game. Rain is also expected for South Carolina vs. South Carolina State, Coastal Carolina vs. Georgia Southern and the big Clemson vs. NC State game.
We all hope that everyone in the path of Hurricane Ian manages to avoid it safely.