The Florida-LSU game will be played this season if SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has anything to do with it.
Late Thursday afternoon, the league office postponed Saturday's game in the Swamp due to Hurricane Matthew. Sankey is determined to have the Gators and Tigers reschedule the longstanding rivalry game.
Officials from the two schools and SEC failed to strike a compromise in the days leading up to the decision. Speaking Saturday on CBS during the Tennessee-Texas A&M game, Sankey said UF and LSU need to find a common solution.
"The game needs to be played, and we need to work together to find a way to do that," Sankey told CBS analyst Gary Danielson. "This conference often describes itself as a family. A family has points of tension. I certainly understand the angst and frustration. I have my own level of angst.
"But we need to find a way to come together to play a football game and find the best way to do that."
Many obstacles exist to find a new date for the game.
UF and LSU do not share an open date. The Gators are off Oct. 22 and the Tigers do not play Oct. 29, when UF is scheduled to face Georgia in Jacksonville.
One potential option is for each school to give up its Nov. 19 game against non-conference foes. UF hosts Presbyterian and LSU hosts South Alabama.
The SEC's lost-revenue insurance policy would pay UF's $500,000 game guarantee to Presbyterian and LSU's $1.5 million to South Alabama.
But LSU also could stand to lose millions by giving up a home game. The Tigers also would be making a trip to Gainesville five days prior to playing Texas A&M on Thanksgiving.
"I want to be careful because there are a number of options, it doesn't narrow to just one," Sankey said. "There are a number of factors to consider."
At issue also is the acrimony created by the postponement.
LSU athletic director Joe Alleva told reporters in Baton Rogue he offered solutions rejected by the UF.
"All I could do was offer opportunities and plead and beg to make it happen," he said Thursday.
One offer made was to play the game in Baton Rogue. But the Tigers would have gained a home-field advantage and the Gators would have faced a logistical nightmare with Matthew bearing down on the state.
Given the risk and uncertainty created by the storm, UF AD Jeremy Foley said this idea was "not in the best interest of safety, not in the best interest of people that would have been involved in that trip."
Alleva said LSU also offered to fly into Gainesville Sunday and play the game in an empty stadium before returning home Sunday night.
Several columns were written Thursday in Louisiana accusing Foley and UF putting off a decision until it was too late, thus avoiding a matchup with the Tigers.
The postponement does help the banged-up Gators. Starting quarterback Luke Del Rio is among several key players nursing injuries and now will have two of the next three Saturdays off _ UF has an Oct. 22 bye _ before facing rival Georgia Oct. 29 in Jacksonville.
But Foley said he is well aware of the importance of Florida-LSU to the fan bases and players.
Florida and LSU have played every season since 1971.
"We want to play the football game," he said.
Sankey would not put a timeline on a decision, but will help find a way to have the Gators and Tigers meet by season's end and avoid any potential impact on SEC division races.
"We need to come together; that's the reality," Sankey said. "We need to come together. I am in a position to lead that effort, but we all have responsibility because this affects the entire conference."
