Sports

Georgia-Missouri, 2 other SEC games postponed due to COVID-19

By WSBTV.com News Staff

Kirby Smart Georgia head coach Kirby Smart during the Bulldogs’ practice session in Athens, Ga., on Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. (Photo by Tony Walsh) (Tony Walsh)

By WSBTV.com News Staff

ATLANTA — The Georgia Bulldogs will not play Missouri this weekend because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Tigers lockeroom.

The SEC tweeted that the game is postponed because of “positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantine of individuals within the Missouri football program.”

Georgia has not had a game cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19 yet this year, but they did play the Crimson Tide just days after Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban and the Athletics Director tested positive.

Conference officials said because Missouri has a game on Dec. 12, a make-up date is still being evaluated and could include Dec. 19.


No. 1 Alabama at LSU and No. 5 Texas A&M at Tennessee will also not play Saturday because of COVID-19 issues, raising the number of Southeastern Conference games postponed this week to three.

The SEC said Tuesday that the Aggies and Volunteers will be rescheduled for Dec. 12, but the Crimson Tide’s game against the defending national champion Tigers is in danger of not being played at all after COVID-19 cases in LSU’s program.

Both teams are coming off their open dates and LSU already has a game against No. 6 Florida scheduled for Dec. 12 that had to be postponed last month. The SEC said it would consider using Dec. 19, the day of the conference championship game in Atlanta, to make up regular-season games not involving teams playing for the title.

On Monday, No. 24 Auburn’s game at Mississippi State was postponed because of COVID-19 positive tests and contact tracing within the Bulldogs' program.

[SPECIAL SECTION: Coronavirus Pandemic in Georgia]

Alabama-LSU is typically one of the most anticipated games of the college football season. Last year, the Tigers broke a long losing streak in the series and won a thriller in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, that propelled them to an SEC championship and national title.

This year’s game was scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. EST and be broadcast by CBS, following the network’s coverage of the Masters golf major. The pandemic forced the Masters to be postponed from April.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

__

AP Sports Writer David Ginsburg in Baltimore contributed to this report.




Most Read