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Follow Hurricane Helene's impact on college football this weekend

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Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida late Thursday, impacting college football's Week 5 schedule.

The Florida Gators have their bye week this week, but the Miami Hurricanes are scheduled to host Virginia Tech on Friday night. Florida State travels to Dallas to face SMU in the Mustangs' home game; Although the impact of the hurricane itself does not appear to be impacting the Dallas area, FSU's travel plans could be affected. UCF will host Deion Sanders and Colorado in Orlando, where FOX's “Big Noon Kickoff” will air live this weekend.

Alabama-Georgia in Tuscaloosa, Ala., could also be another game that could be affected by the possible storm, with rain and winds at the storm's strength.

Required reading: Pac-12 Conference files lawsuit against Mountain West over possible “poaching fee.”

Hurricane Helene impacts college football live updates

This section will be updated. Always east.

12:20 p.m.: Due to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, App State announced that its home game Saturday against Liberty has been canceled. The game between the Mountaineers and Flames will not be postponed.

11:40 a.m.: As a precaution before the storm, FSU football will travel a day earlier than usual for its road game at SMU on Saturday. The Seminoles are flying from Jacksonville to Dallas, FSU head equipment manager Jason Baisden noted. The Weather Channel said Hurricane Helene is expected to make landfall later tonight.

6:08 p.m.: FSU's volleyball game against Miami on Wednesday was postponed an hour from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. as a precaution before the storm. The latest warning from the National Weather Service now predicts that Hurricane Helene will hit Florida, particularly the Tallahassee area, as a Category 4 hurricane.

South Florida also announced schedule changes for this week's athletics, including moving Friday's volleyball game to Saturday and canceling the FSU Pre-Regional Meet in Tallahassee. USF Football is still scheduled to play Tulane in New Orleans on Saturday at noon.

UCF postponed its Friday men's soccer game against Georgia State and will now play it on Sunday.

1:50 p.m.: The Marching Chiefs, Florida State's marching band, announced that it canceled sending its pep band double bus to Dallas for Saturday's SMU-FSU game.

11:34 a.m.: Here's an updated look at Helene from the Weather Channel, which declared Helene a Category 1 hurricane:

11:30 a.m.: The National Hurricane Center has declared Helene a hurricane as it continues to grow and strengthen as it heads toward Florida.

9:02 a.m.: According to a 5 a.m. ET warning from the National Hurricane Center, Helene's growth continues to intensify as it makes its way toward Florida. The storm is expected to bring “tropical storm conditions” to portions of the Florida Big Bend coast starting tomorrow, Thursday, September 26th.

Tuesday, September 25th

7:18 p.m.: FSU announced Tuesday evening that Thursday's football game against Clemson has been postponed and is tentatively scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m.

4:11 p.m.: According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Florida State athletics said it is monitoring Tropical Storm Helene for possible changes to its football and soccer schedules. FSU football coach Mike Norvell did not say whether the storm will impact the Seminoles' usual Friday afternoon departure for away games, but said plans are in place for several scenarios.

FSU football coach Brian Pensky said there are no changes to FSU women's Thursday game against Clemson as of Tuesday afternoon. The Seminoles are the reigning national champions.

Read more about FSU athletics here in the Tallahassee Democrat.

3:44 p.m.: Although Orlando is on the Atlantic side of Florida, due to the size of the storm, the Orlando area could also experience rain and wind from Hurricane Helene if it makes landfall just south of Tallahassee, as currently forecast. Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has already changed his team's travel plans before Buffalo's game against UCF.

“We don't want to take that risk and the storm comes on Thursday, now we can't get there until Friday evening; now there’s a rush,” Sanders said of the team leaving on Wednesday instead of Thursday. “So, we “We try to stay ahead of the competition and be smart about it.”

12:59 p.m.: James Spann, a television meteorologist in Birmingham, tweeted from his personal X account (formerly Twitter) about the impact of the Alabama-Georgia top-five matchup from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

12:16 p.m.: The football game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and the Alabama A&M Bulldogs has been postponed to November 29th. Saturday's game was supposed to be the Rattlers' SWAC home opener, but the school announced the decision to postpone it due to Hurricane Helene, which could be a major Category 3 hurricane as it approaches Florida.

You can read more about the FAMU-Alabama A&M game here at the Tallahassee Democrat.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

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