The first couple of what’s expected to be a handful of these types of announcements have come down.
On its official Twitter account early Tuesday afternoon, North Carolina confirmed that its Week 3 game against No. 18 UCF has been canceled because of the impending threat of Hurricane Florence. The game had been scheduled for a noon ET kickoff Saturday at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill.
“Hosting a major college football game is a massive undertaking that on a good day involves fans and thousands of state, local and campus personnel, including public safety officials, traveling from all over the area,” UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said in a statement. “The current forecast for both the impact and aftermath of the hurricane would require those officials to divert critical resources from what could be much more significant duties.
“We can’t know for certain the amount of damage the storm will inflict, but the sensible decision at this time is to not play the game.”
SCHEDULE ALERT: Due to Hurricane Florence, Saturday’s game against @UCF_Football will not be played.
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) September 11, 2018
Details: https://t.co/fKROX3MzCi pic.twitter.com/dJyVedCi52
Due to Hurricane Florence, our game at UNC this weekend has been canceled.
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) September 11, 2018
UNC and UCF will continue to discuss the feasibility of playing the game at a later date this season. #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/8DfCNUw8Ne
Making up the game at some point this season could prove difficult as UNC’s bye falls in Week 6 while UCF is off during Week 9. UCF has a conference game against SMU in Week 6, while UNC has its own league game against Virginia in Week 9. UNC has a Week 11 matchup scheduled with an FCS team, but UCF has another AAC game (Cincinnati) that same week.
It’s possible they could reschedule the game for the weekend of Dec. 1, but UCF, the defending champions, could very well be playing in the AAC title game that Saturday.
There’s also this, if something can’t be worked out between those two schools: Nebraska and its new head coach, Scott Frost, has a bye the weekend of Oct. 27. UCF, Frost’s former school, has a bye the weekend of Oct. 27. Just sayin’, is all.
Shortly after UNC’s announcement, North Carolina State also confirmed that its game against No. 14 West Virginia will not be played this weekend.
Due to the increasing likelihood of severe and unsafe conditions associated with Hurricane Florence, our game with @WVUfootball will not be played this weekend.https://t.co/An5ShiiLDt
— NC State Football (@PackFootball) September 11, 2018
Per one report, “the NC State game would possibly be played on October 13th. Then WVU’s game with Iowa State would be pushed back to a Thursday night game on October 18th.” In its press release, NC State wrote that, "[s]hould this game be rescheduled or a replacement home game be scheduled, tickets for the West Virginia game will be valid. If this game or a replacement home game is not viable, a refund will be offered to season ticket holders. Details will be communicated at a later date.”
If neither team qualifies for their conference championship games, the weekend of Dec. 1 would also be a possibility.
And, finally, Wake Forest’s matchup with Boston College, scheduled to kick off Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET, will now star at 5:30 the same day.
SCHEDULE UPDATE: Due to Hurricane Florence, Thursday's game against Boston College has been moved up to 5:30 p.m.
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) September 11, 2018
It will still be broadcast on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/0DjwuSPD3T
It had previously been reported that Coastal Carolina’s game against FCS Campbell, scheduled for Saturday, has been moved up to Wednesday because of the looming Category 4 storm. Additionally, Liberty’s Week 3 game against FCS Norfolk State has been rescheduled for Dec. 1.
