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Originally, LSU and BYU were supposed to play in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff game on Saturday night in Houston.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Harvey had other plans, causing massive floods in Houston and the surrounding areas and making NRG Stadium an unlikely place to host the contest.
Now, according to reports, ESPN and NRG have agreed to move the game to New Orleans and play it at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
BYU confirmed the news on Monday evening:
https://twitter.com/BYUCougars/status/902297988479021056
The game will still kick off at 8:30 p.m. Central time and can still be seen on ESPN, so that won’t be affected by the change.
Obviously, as the death toll continues to rise, football takes a backseat to other, more important efforts, but it’s for the best that Houston officials can use their resources for things other than a football game.
LSU AD Joe Alleva said in a statement released by the school that expressed regret that the game couldn’t be played in Houston, but continued by saying Louisiana knows how hurricanes can throw wrenches into any plan:
“ESPN had to make a difficult decision and we are well aware of the awful circumstance that led to this move,” Alleva said. “Every storm is different, but we in Louisiana understand a little about what all of those in Harvey’s path are going through right now. It’s heartbreaking and our prayers go out to all who are impacted.”
ESPN senior vice president of college sports programming and events Pete Derzis added that he was very appreciative of all the cities that reached out offering their services to LSU and BYU:
“During the last few days, we were overwhelmed with the outreach by the communities offering to host this event, specifically, Dallas, Jacksonville, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando and San Antonio,” said Derzis. “We have great partners within those cities through the Football Bowl Association and we appreciate their energy in finding a solution. “
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
