LSU athletic director Joe Alleva hasn't been shy about his feelings on rescheduling the Tigers' scheduled contest against Florida.
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On Thursday, he fired back at ESPN's Brett McMurphy over reports that Florida had reached out and were turned down over rescheduling the SEC game for November 19.
Joe Alleva on @1045espn's #YMD: "That's a flat out lie. That's example of terrible journalism." on @McMurphyESPN's tweet Thursday
— James Haralson (@jamesharalson) October 7, 2016
Here were the tweets in question:
Florida offered to play LSU on Nov. 19 & cancel Presbyterian game, but LSU refused, source told @ESPN. LSU hosts South Alabama on Nov. 19
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 6, 2016
McMurphy later clarified after Alleva acknowledged he had not had contact with "anyone" about rescheduling the contest.
Florida says LSU turned down offer to reschedule game Nov. 19; LSU AD Joe Alleva says he had “no contact w/anyone” about rescheduling game
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 7, 2016
It sounds like this situation will only get uglier before it gets better.
The move to cancel the game comes as a stunner for Tennessee, which currently holds the advantage in the SEC East, but could see it slip through their fingers with back-to-back contests against Texas A&M and Alabama.
Thanks to somewhat of a loophole, the highest win percentage for in-conference competition is the division champion. Meaning all Florida has to do is win out in its in-conference games the rest of the season and have Tennessee lose two in-conference games, and the Gators will punch a ticket to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.
Aside from LSU, Florida has Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina.
That's a cakewalk compared to Tennessee's matchups against Texas A&M and Alabama in back-to-back weeks. The Vols' competition then falls off to South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt.
Florida could certainly slip up against teams like Georgia or Arkansas down the stretch, but their path is significantly easier than the Volunteers' next two weeks.
Tennessee has the team's fate in their own hands by beating the Aggies, but it would be a brutal end to the season after the Vols snapped an 11-year losing streak to Florida.