Hurricane Irma is showing her strength even before she touches the Florida peninsula. 

South Florida originally moved their game up versus UCONN to 10:30am on Saturday. Yesterday morning, both universities decided to cancel the game. 

Central Florida, which was hosting Memphis…both schools agreed to move the game up from Saturday to Friday. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, we agree that the game should not be played on Friday,” UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Danny White and Memphis Athletic Director Tom Bowen said in a joint statement. “We agree with Governor Scott that preparation for Hurricane Irma should be the top priority for the state. While our fans will no doubt be disappointed, we know they understand that safety has to come first.”

Both Florida and Florida State were hosting. Earlier this week both schools moved up the kickoff time to noon Saturday. However, both the Gators and the Noles ultimately cancelled their home openers due to the threat of Irma.

The Hurricanes cancelled all athletic events on Wednesday morning. The football team was scheduled to travel to Arkansas State. Traveling back was the issue as Irma is anticipated to make landfall in Miami late Saturday/early Sunday morning.

“The decision to cancel these athletic contests is difficult, especially as some are scheduled to take place away from Miami,” James said. “However, we made the collective decision that we simply cannot put our student-athletes, coaches and staff in danger travelling to and from contests. As we have seen from the tragic impact of Hurricane Harvey—and from South Florida’s own experiences—the impacts of hurricanes can be devastating and long-lasting, and can make travel extremely difficult and dangerous.”