The weather watch around Alabama-Georgia is getting a lot more serious.
What looked like a rain concern last week has turned into the possibility of a real hurricane problem, with a tropical storm forming in the Gulf that could become Hurricane Isaias. The National Hurricane Center expects it to strengthen into a hurricane on Thursday, with landfall projected for late Friday night or early Saturday morning, according to James Spann.
That has put the Alabama-Georgia game on the table as a possible postponement, Spann told AL.com’s Michael Casagrande. Casagrande reported on social media that the threat is serious enough that moving the game is possible, though Spann said everyone should wait another 24 hours before a decision is made.
This is not a game the SEC can simply toss aside. Alabama and Georgia are set for one of the biggest matchups of the regular season, with SEC Championship and College Football Playoff implications hanging over it. The game has to be played somehow, even if Mother Nature forces a change in the plan.
There is precedent for this kind of shuffle. In 2016, the Florida-LSU game was moved from Gainesville in October to Baton Rouge in November because of a hurricane.
One option would be to move Alabama-Georgia to a different site, though Alabama is unlikely to accept turning it into a straight road game. Georgia would presumably welcome a switch to Athens. Atlanta could work as a neutral site at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but that creates a complication because the Falcons are scheduled to host the Ravens there on Sunday.
Postponement is another path, but it would take some schedule gymnastics. This week would become the bye week for both Alabama and Georgia. That would require help from Texas A&M, which would need to move its game against Alabama to Halloween night and shift its bye week up a week.
Under that setup, Alabama and Georgia could play on 10/24 in Tuscaloosa, when Georgia was already supposed to be off.
But that fix comes with new problems. Alabama would then face Texas A&M the week after playing Georgia, while the Aggies would have an extra week to prepare because of the adjusted bye. Georgia would also run into a tougher follow-up, meeting Florida the week after the Alabama game, with the Gators getting an extra week thanks to their bye staying on 10/24.
There’s no clean answer here. The league, the schools and everyone else may be forced to settle for the least bad option if the storm stays on course.
For now, Spann says it is still too early to know whether drastic measures will be needed. The next day and Thursday should bring more clarity.
In Other News...
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Even so, there are a few things Alabama fans can probably stop losing sleep over before kickoff. The debate is less about whether the Tide can handle the moment and more about how theyll navigate the usual playoff-caliber demands that come with playing Georgia. If Alabama does what it has spent the week preparing to do, the conversation afterward may have more to do with how the Tide managed the game than whether they were ready for it at all. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Created A New Alabama Worry Before October 17
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What happens next could shape the Volunteers approach when they line up against Alabama on October 17. If Brandon is healthy again, Tennessee will still have a decision to make, but MacIntyres showing as the starter now could make the choice a much tougher one than it looked a week ago. [Read more 🡒]