Sec Country: LSU/UF fact and fiction(long)

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Both schools and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey have received a ton of criticism for how the situation was handled and who’s to blame for the outcome.

The obvious answer should be Hurricane Matthew, which caused at least 19 deaths in four states, record flooding, millions of power outages and an estimated $6 billion in economic damage.

Those aren’t the only facts that have been glossed over this weekend:

1.Fiction: Florida decided to cancel the LSU game
Fact: Florida and LSU were involved in the decision-making process, but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and his office ultimately made the call. Both athletic directors, Florida’s Jeremy Foley and LSU’s Joe Alleva, said this Thursday.

Foley: “This is the right decision. I fully support the Southeastern Conference’s decision to postpone the game.”

Alleva: “At the end of the day, the Commissioner’s office had the final say on what happens.”


2. Fiction: Florida could have played LSU on Saturday
Fact: Hindsight is 20/20. Florida and the SEC got ripped Wednesday and early Thursday for even considering the possibility of playing the game. But by Thursday afternoon, Hurricane Matthew had slightly shifted to the west (toward Gainesville) with the potential of becoming a Category 5 storm.

Fortunately for Gainesville, the hurricane weakened, stayed east and did not cause significant damage in the city. That was an unpredictable outcome, however, and weather projections suggested otherwise Thursday. But come Saturday, many questioned why a game wasn’t being played.


3. Fiction: Florida could have played LSU on Sunday
Fact: Again, that’s easy to say after the hurricane had not been as devastating in Gainesville as initially feared.

But Matthew still decimated nearby cities such as St. Augustine. Instead of working the Florida-LSU game, the Gainesville Fire Department was deployed to assist surrounding areas affected by the storm.

Their absence in Gainesville and that of other first responders — as well as law enforcement — prevented a home game from
this weekend.

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