Hurricane Matthew could cause chaos for sports in Southeast this weekend

By Kerouac Smith
Published

With Hurricane Matthew tracking to hit the Southeastern seaboard later this week, sports leagues, teams and venues are keeping a close eye on the storm and weighing their options.

Gulfstream Park was the first to take action, cancelling its live thoroughbred racing cards scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes, both scheduled to play at Hard Rock Stadium this weekend, are still planning to play but know that might change.

"I don't know what we'll do, to be honest with you. Just keep everybody safe, first. We'll do the best we can," Hurricanes coach Mark Richt said. Miami has its annual rivalry game against Florida State on Saturday.

As for the Dolphins game against the Tennessee Titans, there's been talk of possibly playing it in Nashville instead.

Other college football games that cold be affected include Georgia at South Carolina, Army at Duke, Virginia Tech at North Carolina, Syracuse at Wake Forest and Notre Dame at N.C. State.

In Virginia, Old Dominion coach Bobby Wilder announced the school was moving its game against UMass to Friday night in anticipation of the storm.

In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to issue an evacuation order for up to a million coastal residents, but Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp says "I'm not the least bit worried."

While the football game remained on, two other South Carolina-Georgia events - equestrian and volleyball, both scheduled for Friday - were postponed. Other postponements announced Tuesday included a pair of FCS games originally set for Saturday, Albany State at Charleston Southern and Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State.

The Miami Heat, who returned to South Florida Tuesday night, say they'll fly out again on Wednesday to Houston and use the Rockets' practice facilities for a couple of days before they travel to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in Kansas City on Saturday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.