Hurricane Wilma is giving Miami and Georgia Tech the weekend off.
With Wilma expected to arrive with potentially devastating force in Florida this weekend, school and Atlantic Coast Conference officials postponed Saturday's game between the Yellow Jackets and sixth-ranked Hurricanes.
Central Florida's home game with Tulane -- a team forced from its city, school and home stadium by Katrina's strike along the Gulf coast -- will be played on Friday night, instead of Saturday.
"Unfortunately, we have a lot of experience in dealing with these situations," said Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson.
The ACC did not immediately announce when Miami's game would be played. Miami athletic director Paul Dee had said Nov. 17 and 19 are options -- but that would require the Hurricanes' Nov. 17 game at Wake Forest to be pushed back to Nov. 12, and that would also take away a national TV, high-exposure Thursday night game from the Demon Deacons.
"We are currently working with both institutions to reschedule the game," ACC commissioner John Swofford said.
It's the fourth time a hurricane has necessitated a schedule switch of a Miami home game; Hurricane Georges postponed a game with UCLA for more than two months in 1998, Temple's visit in 1999 was pushed back nearly three months by Hurricane Irene; and Florida State's trip south for the 2004 season-opener was delayed nearly a week by Hurricane Frances.
"These things are serious," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "We know that. If we don't know it, we should just reflect back a few weeks to Katrina. It came through here as a Category 1 and trust me, we don't want to see much more."
Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins were taking a wait-and-see attitude and monitoring the storm's path. The Dolphins are scheduled to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.
"At this point, it would be premature to make a decision," Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said.
The NHL's Florida Panthers had not made any announcement about Saturday night's game against Ottawa.
Wilma was a Category 5 storm Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. It was expected to hit southwestern Florida, then move quickly across the state and perhaps close to the greater Miami area by early Sunday.
Wilma would be the eighth hurricane to either strike or brush Florida since August 2004.
"That thing looks pretty dangerous to me," Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "It jumped from a tropical storm to Category 5 in about 20 hours. That's a little scary."
The postponement will give both the Hurricanes and Yellow Jackets some time to heal.
Miami quarterback Kyle Wright has a sprained right thumb, affecting his ability to grasp and throw the ball -- but he had vowed to be ready to play this weekend.
Georgia Tech has more pressing injury concerns, with defensive tackle Joe Anoai (ankle) and defensive back Djay Jones (leg) not likely to have played this weekend. Also, quarterback Reggie Ball and tailback P.J. Daniels were hurt last weekend against Duke.
Officials at South Florida continued to monitor Wilma's progress Wednesday, but Saturday night's Big East home game with No. 20 West Virginia remained as scheduled.
With Wilma expected to arrive with potentially devastating force in Florida this weekend, school and Atlantic Coast Conference officials postponed Saturday's game between the Yellow Jackets and sixth-ranked Hurricanes.
Central Florida's home game with Tulane -- a team forced from its city, school and home stadium by Katrina's strike along the Gulf coast -- will be played on Friday night, instead of Saturday.
"Unfortunately, we have a lot of experience in dealing with these situations," said Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson.
The ACC did not immediately announce when Miami's game would be played. Miami athletic director Paul Dee had said Nov. 17 and 19 are options -- but that would require the Hurricanes' Nov. 17 game at Wake Forest to be pushed back to Nov. 12, and that would also take away a national TV, high-exposure Thursday night game from the Demon Deacons.
"We are currently working with both institutions to reschedule the game," ACC commissioner John Swofford said.
It's the fourth time a hurricane has necessitated a schedule switch of a Miami home game; Hurricane Georges postponed a game with UCLA for more than two months in 1998, Temple's visit in 1999 was pushed back nearly three months by Hurricane Irene; and Florida State's trip south for the 2004 season-opener was delayed nearly a week by Hurricane Frances.
"These things are serious," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "We know that. If we don't know it, we should just reflect back a few weeks to Katrina. It came through here as a Category 1 and trust me, we don't want to see much more."
Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins were taking a wait-and-see attitude and monitoring the storm's path. The Dolphins are scheduled to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.
"At this point, it would be premature to make a decision," Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said.
The NHL's Florida Panthers had not made any announcement about Saturday night's game against Ottawa.
Wilma was a Category 5 storm Wednesday, with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. It was expected to hit southwestern Florida, then move quickly across the state and perhaps close to the greater Miami area by early Sunday.
Wilma would be the eighth hurricane to either strike or brush Florida since August 2004.
"That thing looks pretty dangerous to me," Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "It jumped from a tropical storm to Category 5 in about 20 hours. That's a little scary."
The postponement will give both the Hurricanes and Yellow Jackets some time to heal.
Miami quarterback Kyle Wright has a sprained right thumb, affecting his ability to grasp and throw the ball -- but he had vowed to be ready to play this weekend.
Georgia Tech has more pressing injury concerns, with defensive tackle Joe Anoai (ankle) and defensive back Djay Jones (leg) not likely to have played this weekend. Also, quarterback Reggie Ball and tailback P.J. Daniels were hurt last weekend against Duke.
Officials at South Florida continued to monitor Wilma's progress Wednesday, but Saturday night's Big East home game with No. 20 West Virginia remained as scheduled.
