Why LSU Florida Needs to be Played

Florida and LSU were scheduled to play in Gainesville last Saturday.  Due to Hurricane Matthew, the game was cancelled.  With LSU and Florida not sharing a bye week, it makes it difficult to re-schedule this game.  However, this game needs to be played for a variety of reasons.  The first, and probably most important, is that Florida has a chance to win the SEC East.  Right now, Florida is tied with Tennessee for first place, each team has 1 loss.  Tennessee holds the tie-breaker over the gators.  Tennessee plays Alabama this weekend, where they are 12 point underdogs.  With a loss, followed by winning out and Florida winning out, Tennessee would finish the year 6-2 in the SEC with Florida being 6-1.  Florida would gain a huge advantage as they would not have to play LSU, who might be the toughest team left on their SEC schedule. 

Not playing the game would have ripple effects outside the SEC as well.  Wisconsin is currently 8^th in the country, with a strong non-conference win over LSU.  With a win on Saturday against Ohio State, Wisconsin would be right back into the playoff race.  With a win over Florida, who is currently ranked, LSU could jump back into the top 25.  This would give Wisconsin another quality win, and a boost in the playoff race.

The most likely scenario for this game to be played is on November 19, when both teams played non-conference opponents.  However, LSU does not want to give up a home game.  The LSU Athletic Director has been very adamant that they will be a home game on that date.  The SEC needs their commissioner to come in and compromise, to avoid the ripple effects of not playing the game.