LSU AD Joe Alleva yesterday "reasserted his point" that it will be "'very difficult' to reschedule" the LSU-Florida football game that was postponed last week due to Hurricane Matthew, according to Ross Dellenger of the Baton Rouge ADVOCATE. Alleva said that LSU "will not move a home game Nov. 19 against South Alabama to accommodate a potential makeup game in Gainesville ... leaving potentially just one option: Dec. 3." For that to happen, the SEC title game "would have to be moved back a week to Dec. 10, potentially affecting" the CFP and bowl announcements and "conflicting with season-ending award ceremonies like the Heisman Trophy." About three hours after Alleva's news conference, the SEC and UF released statements "painting a divisive picture of the situation." SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said, "The presidents and athletic directors agreed on Thursday that the schools and SEC Office would make every effort to find a scheduling solution." Alleva: "One thing we're going to hold very firm on is that we have a home game on November 19, and we're going to have a home game on November 19. ... We are not going to change that situation. It's the fact that our fans and this city deserve to have a home game that day." Dellenger notes moving the SEC title game "seems like a stretch ... but it's what LSU President F. King Alexander wants the league to do" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 10/11). In Jacksonville, Garry Smits notes UF is "scheduled to play at home against Presbyterian on Nov. 19." UF AD Jeremy Foley has "mentioned the possibility" of the school "buying out the opponent for $475,000 (LSU's buy-out of South Alabama has been reported to be $1.5M) and playing LSU that day, with the league stepping in to compensate LSU for the lost revenue" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 10/11).
SANKEY'S HONEYMOON OVER? In Baton Rouge, Scott Rabalais writes Sankey's tenure is "threatening to go up in smoke like a Samsung Galaxy Note 7." Sankey let himself "have terms dictated to him" by Foley, and now he has an "open rebellion on his hands with LSU and Alleva, an uprising that by SEC bylaws he is powerless to suppress." According to SEC rules, the commissioner can "cancel or postpone a game," but once it is postponed, he "needs the cooperation of both schools to get it played." Alleva is "willing to cooperate ... on his terms." Rabalais: "LSU didn't cause this problem, and apparently its athletic director isn't going to agree to what he views as an inequitable solution" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 10/11). In New Orleans, Ron Higgins wrote "mayhem" commenced after Sankey "was a puppet ... in Foley's marionette show last week" (NOLA.com, 10/11).
TURNING THE TIDE: In Orlando, David Whitley writes Alleva's "intransigence isn't surprising." When he was Duke AD, he "thoroughly mishandled the lacrosse scandal." His "greatest accomplishment" at LSU was turning former football coach Les Miles' employment status "into a circus." Alleva is "not exactly Mr. Popularity in Baton Rouge," but by "playing the victim of a Florida/SEC conspiracy he can rally the base around him" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 10/11).
