Hurricane Irma: Football games canceled, moved by storm

Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Katie Walls reports.

In anticipation of the worst hurricane to hit Florida since 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, several college football and one NFL game have been moved or postponed.

Here’s a list of the games that have been impacted so far:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Miami Dolphins

The NFL announced Wednesday that the Buccaneers and Dolphins will not play Sunday's game at Miami Gardens' Hard Rock Stadium.

The Bucs and Dolphins instead will meet at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19 (Week 11), the teams’ original bye week. The two teams will play 16-straight games after the first week bye.

For a full list of the records of the last eight teams to play 16-straight games, visit AJC.com.

Georgia Southern moves game to Birmingham 

The Georgia Southern Eagles were scheduled to play the New Hampshire Wildcats in Statesboro Saturday, but the school announced Wednesday the game would be moved.

Saturday’s matchup will be played at 4 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala., at UAB’s Legion Field.

“When looking at the possibilities where we could try and play this football game, UAB and (athlethic director) Mark Ingram reached out to us and offered us their facilities," Georgia Southern athletic director Tom Kleinlein said in a statement. "After reviewing the updated forecast, we believe the best option for ensuring this game being played is to move to Birmingham. With the developing weather situation, it was paramount to make a decision today so that we would not have to pull resources that may be used in an evacuation scenario.”

Miami cancels game against Arkansas State

The Miami Hurricanes will not travel to Jonesboro, Ark., to play Arkansas State on Saturday.

Miami cited travel concerns as the reason to forgo the game at the Red Wolves’ Centennial Bank Stadium.

UCF-Memphis canceled

The Knights canceled their game against Memphis -- which had been moved from Saturday to Friday night  -- at UCF’s Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, following Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s order late Thursday night to close all state colleges and state universities beginning Friday.

Georgia Tech is scheduled to face UCF Sept. 16 in Orlando .

FIU game moved to Birmingham

FIU’s home opener against Alcorn State has been moved to Birmingham, Ala.

The game was orginally scheduled to be played Saturday at FIU Stadium in University Park, Fla., but will instead be played at Legion Field at 7 p.m. Friday, according to FBS Schedules.

“We have decided to relocate a number of our teams to Birmingham, Ala.,” FIU executive director of sports and entertainment Pete Garcia said, according to FBS Schedules. “I want to thank UAB Director of Athletics Mark Ingram, the University of Alabama Birmingham and the Birmingham community for their tremendous help and assistance. The UAB family has gone above-and-beyond to make us feel welcome.”

Rescheduled Florida State, Louisiana-Monroe canceled

“In the interest of safety of individuals throughout the state, and to allow our student-athletes, staff and fans to prepare for a storm of significant magnitude, we have decided to cancel all athletics events including the ULM football game on Saturday,” FSU President John Thrasher said in a statement.

Florida cancels North Colorado matchup 

The Florida Gators and Northern Colorado Bears had moved up Saturday's kickoff time before deciding to cancel the game.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is near one of the main evacuation arteries in Gainesville, Fla., and officials determined it would added undeed stress to the already heavily traveled roads.

Since the schools do not share a common open date, the game will not be rescheduled.

Forecasters predict Irma will start affecting Central Florida late Sunday or early Monday.

South Florida game off

The South Florida Bulls canceled plans to travel to Connecticut to face the Huskies. The game had been moved up on the schedule to 10:30 a.m., but officials at the Tampa school cited concerns over travel safety as reasons to forgo the game.

Kennesaw State volleyball match moved, canceled

The Kennesaw State volleyball match against Georgia Southern on Friday has been moved up to noon while the Owls’ match against Savannah State on Saturday has been cancelled, the school announced on Thursday.