Hurricane forces postponement of college football games

Hurricane Wilma is causing problems for college sporting events this weekend.

With Wilma expected to arrive with potentially devastating force in Florida, several college events have been rescheduled.

Wilma was downgraded from a Category 5 to 4 yesterday, but still packed winds of 145 miles per hour.

The storm was expected to hit southwestern Florida late this weekend, then move quickly across the state toward Miami.

Atlantic Coast Conference officials postponed tomorrow's game between Georgia Tech and sixth-ranked Miami.

''That thing looks pretty dangerous to me," Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. ''It jumped from a tropical storm to Category 5 in about 20 hours. That's a little scary."

Georgia Tech will play at Miami Nov. 19. Miami's scheduled trip to Wake Forest Nov. 17 -- a Thursday night game -- will now be played Nov. 12. ACC spokesman Brian Morrison said no decision has been made on whether the league will shift another game into that Thursday night slot.

Miami athletic director Paul Dee said several scenarios were considered, but none was as practical.

''There were a lot of elements involved in the game," Dee said. ''The players, the coaches, the fans particularly, allowing them to come to the game without the pressure of a storm coming down on us."

Central Florida's home game with Tulane -- a team forced from its city, school, and home stadium by Katrina's strike along the Gulf coast -- will be played tonight, instead of tomorrow.

''Unfortunately, we have a lot of experience in dealing with these situations," said Tulane athletic director Rick Dickson.

No. 20 West Virginia's trip to Tampa to face South Florida was rescheduled for Dec. 3. The game had been scheduled tomorrow.

Florida Atlantic's football team is at Arkansas State tomorrow, and was scheduled to fly back to South Florida after the game -- a flight that could be delayed depending on Wilma.

''We're on the road, so we'll probably be better off than most," said athletic department spokeswoman Katrina McCormick.