Hurricane forces cancellation of three games with ranked teams

Hurricane Florence has forced the cancellation of several Top 25 games this weekend, including No. 13 Virginia Tech’s home game against East Carolina, No. 14 West Virginia’s trip to North Carolina State and No. 18 UCF’s game at North Carolina.

The Category 4 storm’s approach led to a series of schedule adjustments Tuesday for teams in the Carolinas and Virginia. The University of Virginia’s scheduled home game Saturday against Ohio was relocated to Nashville, Tennessee and the start time for Wake Forest’s Atlantic Coast Conference home game Thursday against Boston College was moved up. The decisions were made as Florence appears set to come ashore along the Carolinas’ coastline late Thursday or early Friday with strong winds and heavy rain.

Several of the schools appeared to be publicly in agreement on the need for schedule changes due to Florence, though East Carolina’s decision not to travel to Blacksburg nixed Saturday’s game. ECU — which has already called off the rest of the week’s classes — cited “significant imminent safety concerns” that included “the high probability of a catastrophic impact on the region and perilous travel conditions before, during and after the storm.”

In its own release, Virginia Tech officials had planned to wait until today to determine the status of the game based on updated storm projections.

In North Carolina, the Tar Heels were set to play their first home game in Chapel Hill after two road losses. But the schools announced the change around midday while saying they could continue discussions on whether to play the game later this season.

The West Virginia-North Carolina State game was scheduled to start a few hours later in Raleigh, located about 30 miles east of Chapel Hill. But the schools called off their game while citing the “increasing likelihood of severe and unsafe conditions” after discussions from West Virginia, the ACC and emergency management officials.