Game Will Not be Played, Time to Move On

This game ain't getting played, I'm afraid. Foley stood his ground and refused to move a home game, and now Alleva is doing the same thing. The Cocktail Party is not going to get moved, way too much money tied into that game. The SECCG isn't getting moved either because the NCAA is not pushing back bowl and playoff selections because of one game. That would also be a very expensive reschedule for the SEC as well. The SEC additionally is not going to force other teams to take a hit because of this game either by moving games around to accommodate. That would also come with large financial repercussions the SEC would have to foot, among other logistical issues.

Basically, these ADs are at a standstill. Sankey is powerless to force teams to cancel OOC games. He only has the power to cancel/reschedule conference games, per SEC bylaws. At the end of the day, the fault in all of this falls at Sankey's feet. Sure Foley may have been being unreasonable last week, but Sankey could have forced the game to be played Sunday or Monday, but he didn't. This is what happened as a result. It sucks, but it is what it is at this point.

I do not blame Alleva for not wanting to take on a huge financial burden because Sankey was unable to put his foot down and force the game be played like Slive did with Bertman and the LSU/UT game in 2005.

And I don't think Alleva was suggesting Alabama actually play a game on the 29th. I think he was just trying to make a point that what's being requested of LSU is unreasonable, both financially and logistically. People also seem not to care about what this would do to two other schools, Presbyterian and South Alabama. WHy should they be forced to cancel a game or reschedule conference games of their own to accommodate two SEC schools?

At the end of the day, this game will not be played, and if it does end up affecting the winners of the divisions, Sankey, Foley, and Alleva will likely look stupid. If I'm being honest, I think Alleva probably knows it's a longshot for LSu to win the West and he's now looking at this whole thing from a financial perspective, much like Foley was doing last week. In that sense, this is a responsible decision on his part. It sucks, but it is what it is.