Hurricane Irma is making a dramatic entrance into the South East region. It is a category 5 hurricane with winds reaching nearly 174 miles per hour that is set to make landfall in southern Florida as a “dangerous major hurricane” according to the National Hurricane Center. Irma is predicted to to arrive on the coast of Florida by Saturday and cause havoc for the entire weekend. With much of South Florida under a hurricane and storm surge watch, University of Florida has to decided to cancel their game this weekend against the University of Northern Colorado in Gainesville.
Gainesville, Florida is considered North Central Florida, however it is still in the pathway of the storm. The school wants everyone to focus on evacuations and relief efforts, according to Florida Athletics Director Scott Stricklin. Stricklin goes on to explain that Gainesville is close to some of the heavy traffic points this weekend, near Interstate 75, that of which is a statewide evacuation route.
Florida lost to the Michigan Wolverines last Saturday 33-17. This dropped Florida from No.17 to 22 in the AP Poll.
Although winning against Northern Colorado would not dramatically improve Florida’s standings in the college football polls. The Bears do not have a corresponding open date, the game will not be rescheduled as of now. They are still set to face Tennessee in Gainesville next weekend on the 16th. Stay safe everyone!
