Add Tennessee-Texas A&M to the list of college football COVID-19 casualties this week.
The Vols will not host the fifth-ranked Aggies on Saturday as scheduled due to an outbreak in the Texas A&M program. The game was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and was going to mark the Aggies' first-ever trip to Knoxville as an SEC member.
That bring to three this week the number of SEC games postponed or rescheduled due to COVID-19 outbreaks, contact tracing and protocols. Earlier Tuesday, the SEC announced the Alabama-LSU game would not be played as scheduled this week, and that move came on the heels of the Auburn-Mississippi State postponement as well.
Tennessee now is scheduled to host the Aggies on Dec. 12, as neither team before this week had endured a COVID-19 outbreak this season that had forced the rescheduling of another game.
“(The games) are postponed due to positive tests, contact tracing and subsequent quarantine of individuals within the LSU and A&M football programs,” the SEC said in its official release, announcing both the rescheduled Vols-Aggies game and, as of now, the indefinite postponement of the Alabama-LSU clash also scheduled for Saturday in Baton Rouge.
"We currently have three active cases within our football program, including two who traveled with the team to South Carolina, and one who did not travel to South Carolina because of a positive test on Nov. 5," A&M A.D. Ross Bjork said in a statement released by the school. "The nature of away game travel (flights, meals, lodging, locker room, etc.) naturally leads to an increase in the number of student-athletes, coaches and staff who meet the criteria for mandatory quarantine based on contact-tracing guidelines.
"We are asking everyone around our university community to stay vigilant and follow all of the safety protocols and best practices as we approach the end of the fall sports seasons."
Additionally, Missouri is dealing with COVID-19 issues in its football program coming out of last weekend's open date and could face an issue with its scheduled game this week against Georgia.
A source at South Carolina also said the Gamecocks have had multiple positive tests in their football program this week after hosting Texas A&M last weekend.