Though it had not reached hurricane strength as of Tuesday evening, Tropical Storm Helene could become a major hurricane and impact the college football Week 5 schedule.
The storm formed Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea, and hurricane and storm surge warnings were issued for portions of Florida due to its potential impact on the state later in the week. In its latest advisory, the National Weather Service projected the storm to intensify and potentially become a major hurricane when it approaches the Gulf Coast of Florida, potentially by late Thursday, which could have an impact on Week 5 of the college football season.
The Florida Gators have their bye week this week, but the Miami Hurricanes are scheduled to host Virginia Tech on Friday evening. Florida State travels to Dallas to take on SMU in the Mustangs’ home opener; though the impacts of the hurricane itself don’t seem to be impacting the Dallas area, FSU’s travel plans could be affected. UCF will host Deion Sanders and Colorado in Orlando, where FOX’s ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ will be live from this weekend.
Alabama-Georgia in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, could also be another game impacted by the potential storm with rains and winds with the size of the storm.
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Hurricane Helene impacts on college football live updates
This section will be updated. All times Eastern.
4:11 p.m.: According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida State athletics said it is monitoring Tropical Storm Helene for potential changes to its football and soccer schedules. FSU football coach Mike Norvell did not specify if the storm will impact the Seminoles’ usual Friday afternoon departure for road games but said plans are in place for several scenarios.
FSU soccer coach Brian Pensky said that as of Tuesday afternoon, there are no changes to FSU women’s Thursday game against Clemson. The Seminoles are the defending national champions.
Read more about FSU athletics here in the Tallahassee Democrat.
3:44 p.m.: Though Orlando is on the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida, with the storm’s size, the Orlando area could also see rain and wind from Hurricane Helene if it makes its projected landfall just south of Tallahassee, as currently projected. Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has already altered the plans for his team’s travel ahead of the Buffalo’s game against UCF.
“We don’t want to take that chance and the storm hits Thursday, now we can’t get there until Friday evening; now, it’s a rush,” Sanders said of the team departing on Wednesday instead of Thursday. “So, we’re trying to get ahead of the curve and be smart with it.”
12:59 p.m.: James Spann, a television meteorologist in Birmingham, tweeted from his personal X account (formerly Twitter) about the impacts of the Alabama-Georgia top-five matchup from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
12:16 p.m.: The football game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and Alabama A&M Bulldogs has been postponed to Nov. 29. Saturday’s game was supposed to be the Rattlers’ SWAC home opener, but the school announced the decision to postpone it due to Hurricane Helene, which could be a major Category 3 hurricane when it approaches Florida.
More about the FAMU-Alabama A&M game can be read on the Tallahassee Democrat here.
This story will be updated.
