SEC looking at options to move Alabama-Ole Miss kickoff due to Hurricane Delta

The SEC is looking at various kickoff options for the Alabama-Ole Miss game scheduled for Saturday in Oxford, Miss., including possibilities ranging from a Friday kickoff to a postponement until early November, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

Hurricane Delta, which is expected to move through the Gulf of Mexico and make landfall in Louisiana on Friday, has already resulted in one change in the weekend’s SEC schedule with the LSU-Missouri game moving from Baton Rouge to Columbia, Mo.

The current projected path of Hurricane Delta from the National Hurricane Center projects that the storm will arrive in the Oxford area during the day Saturday. Oxford is more than 250 miles from the coast, but even if Delta is downgraded to tropical storm status there is potential for torrential rain and wind gusts of 25-40 miles per hour.

An official release from the SEC office Wednesday morning said that the conference office “ continues to monitor the path of Hurricane Delta and remains in communication with member schools to evaluate its potential impact on other athletic events this week.” 

For logistical reasons including travel, any change in the current 5 p.m. Saturday kickoff time scheduled for Alabama-Ole Miss would have to be made as soon as possible, perhaps on Wednesday.

”A decision would need to be made in a timely manner,” per the source. 

in addition to the possibility of playing on another day this weekend, a postponement to Nov. 7, when both schools have an open date, remains on the table, although the open dates in the league’s 2020 schedule are also considered as “safety valves” in the case of possible COVID-19 related postponements. 

Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil@tidesports.com or via Twitter @cecilhurt