Nearly a full 24 hours after they said they'd have a resolution, the SEC, Florida and LSU announced the Tigers' scheduled trip to Gainesville will not happen. That's about all we know for sure.
After putting their heads together, the three entities each made their own announcements, which came to two separate conclusions.
The pressing question: why not switch the game to Baton Rouge, as the South Carolina game was done last season? LSU offered to host, but it seems waiting until Thursday afternoon to make a final decision pushed the possibility of getting the Gators and the small army that travels with them out of Gainesville was beyond the point of no return. Had a decision to move the game to Louisiana been squared away yesterday, this game would likely happen.
The next question: so.... is this game happening?
Maybe. Maybe not. Honestly, it's early to say one way or the other. The teams do not share a common bye, but each does have a guarantee game scheduled for Nov. 19. According to the letter of the release -- "At this time the schools do not have a common open date on which to reschedule the game, so the schools and SEC Office will make every effort to find a scheduling solution with the possible movement of other games on the schools’ schedules" -- Presbyterian and South Alabama should receive their buyout checks and the game should be played. But, there are other factors to consider. Those teams scheduled those guarantee games for Nov. 19 for a reason -- to take a breather from the grind of the SEC schedule. Playing each other would be the exact opposite of that, while also asking LSU to go on the road in the SEC for three straight weeks. (The Tigers visit Arkansas on Nov. 12 and Texas A&M on Nov. 24.)
If the Tigers and Gators aren't in the hunt, the game may not be played.
And in the meantime, as the venerable Adam Kramer pointed out, Coach O remains undefeated.