UCF home game vs SMU moved to Wednesday due to Hurricane Ian

As Hurricane Ian ripped through Florida, college sports weren’t the first things on most people’s minds. Instead, it was with the destruction of communities throughout the state. However, it’s impossible not to acknowledge that sports were always going to be impacted by the storm.

UCF’s game against SMU had already been impacted. Previously, the game had been moved to Sunday to avoid conflict with Hurricane Ian. Now, as Southwest and Central Florida look to regroup, the game has reportedly been moved again.

It was initially reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the game between UCF and SMU will now take place on Wednesday, October 5th.

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SMU then confirmed the move on Twitter.

Wednesday night on the national stage!

Our game vs. @UCF_Football has been re-scheduled for Wednesday, October 5 at 6pm CT, on ESPN 2. pic.twitter.com/lNjKm3C1a6

— SMU FootbaIl (@SMUFB) September 30, 2022

The game is going to take place on Wednesday, October 5th. It will be played at 7 PM ET, or 6 PM CT. The game itself will air on ESPN2. This will allow it to be a prime time game, on the ESPN family of networks, which doesn’t compete with the NFL. Had the game been played on Sunday, it would have directly competed with the NFL.

This will allow for more time to recover from Hurricane Ian, which impacted Orlando with numerous blackouts and flash floods. The total cost of the damage from Hurricane Ian is still unknown, but some estimates are expecting it to cost in the range of $65 billion. That’s before you account for the loss of human life, and how it affects individual people. That includes the toll on players who are on UCF’s roster and come from every part of the state.

This move was possible because both teams have bye weeks next week. So, neither will be faced with a short week. Instead, they’ll be dealing with an awkward scheduling change in their preparation for the game.