University of Tennessee Athletics
September 12, 2001 | Football
By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
AP Football Writer
The Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern conferences reversed field Thursday and postponed all football games this weekend because of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
A day after announcing its teams would play, the three leagues joined the Atlantic Coast, Big East and Pac-10 conferences in calling off the games, meaning there will be no major-college football on Saturday. The NFL also postponed its Sunday games.
The schools from the six major conferences plus Notre Dame form the Bowl Championship Series, which picks its top two teams at the end of the season to play in its national championship game.
This weekend, 116 games involving Division I-A and I-AA teams were scheduled, and it appeared only a few, if any, would be played.
The Southeastern Conference has released the following statement:
BIRMINGHAM -- The SEC joins all of the other major sporting entities in the nation in postponing indefinitely all athletic events, including the football games scheduled for Sept. 15.
The conference continues to believe this country must begin the healing process following the horrendous events of the past week and will evaluate all future schedules at an appropriate time.
The Southeastern Conference reaffirms its commitment of $1 million to the funds that will assists the victims of this week's tragic events.
Statement from Tennessee Athletic Director Doug Dickey
"The University of Tennessee had made all provisions to comply with the decision to play Saturday. With the postponement of this weekend's events, we will wait for additional information from the Southeastern Conference before returning to competition. All of us in the athletic world respect the decision by the SEC presidents. Circumstances surrounding the attempt to play were not coming together in a prudent manner."
