Tulane Moving Practices Out of State as Hurricane Ida Approaches

A major story continues to develop in the state of Louisiana as Hurricane Ida approaches this weekend with the city of New Orleans squarely in its crosshairs.

Droves of people are fleeing the city to try to beat the storm with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell putting it bluntly on Saturday that “now is the time to leave.”

“Now is the time to leave,” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell tells residents who are planning to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Ida.

“There are no signs…that this storm will weaken.” https://t.co/ypmPNfkI4j pic.twitter.com/flBPoTXe8N
— CNN (@CNN) August 28, 2021

Oklahoma is, of course, scheduled to play in the Big Easy just one week from now against Tulane to open up the 2021 season. But with each passing day, the likeliness of a possible game relocation seems to become more plausible.

On Friday night, Sooners athletic director Joe Castiglione put out a statement saying that the plan was still to play the game as scheduled , but that contingency plans were getting made.

Now, Tulane Athletics has released a statement that they are relocating both volleyball and football practices out of state.

Hurricane Ida update. #RollWave pic.twitter.com/GF48vC3bte
— Tulane Green Wave (@TulaneAthletics) August 28, 2021

“Due to the expected loss of power as a result of Hurricane Ida, volleyball and football will relocate to Tallahassee, Florida and Birmingham, Alabama, respectively to maintain their ability to practice in preparation for their games this week,” the statement reads. “Both teams will return to New Orleans once power is restored.”

While the plan is is still to play the game on time at Yulman Stadium on the Tulane campus as planned, other options are being explored in case that becomes no longer feasible. One of those options is playing the game in Norman. OU is scheduled to host Tulane in 2024, so it's feasible that game could be flipped to New Orleans.

A source told SI Sooners the expectation is that a clearer picture will emerge as to what option makes the most sense after the storm has passed.

This is an understandably fluid situation that SI Sooners will continue to monitor in the coming days.

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