big joe

The date for Georgia Tech's game at No. 6 Miami might be switched because of the threat posed to South Florida by Hurricane Wilma.

Officials from both schools, the Atlantic Coast Conference, ABC and ESPN are scheduled to have a conference call Wednesday. Miami athletic director Paul Dee said a decision on Saturday's game will be made sometime Wednesday afternoon, but not necessarily stemming from the call.

``We're going to base it on the best information the National Hurricane Center and others have for us at that time,'' Dee said. ``Our first priority is the safety of the players and of the fans. And we're pretty experienced at this.''

Tech coach Chan Gailey said options include moving the game up one day to Friday or pushing the game back one month to the Yellow Jackets' open week on Nov. 19.

Gailey said one concern he would have if the game is switched to Friday would be that the area may already be soaked with rain. Another concern is a Friday game might be a distraction for the area if Wilma leads government officials to call for an evacuation by the weekend.

The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff Saturday at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

``We'll get ready to play Saturday at noon,'' Gailey said. ``That's the way we've got to prepare.''

Gailey said if he had a vote, ``I'd probably choose to move it back just because it's supposed to rain off and on all week anyway.''

Added Miami coach Larry Coker, ``We're planning on playing Saturday. We're still days out. What is it, the cone of concern? It doesn't look very good. But anyway, whatever we'll need to do, we'll need to do. We're preparing as if we're playing Friday or Saturday.''

Wilma is on course to approach Central America or Mexico before turning toward the narrow Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico's Cancun region. It then is projected to turn east into the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida.

``It does look like it poses a significant threat to Florida by the weekend. Of course, these are four- and five-day forecasts, so things can change,'' said Dan Brown, a meteorologist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

In other Wilma developments:

-Officials from West Virginia and South Florida are communicating twice daily about the possible impact of the hurricane on Saturday's game in Tampa, Fla.

``They will keep us up to date on any news,'' WVU sports information director Shelly Poe said.

---

AP Sports Writers Charles Odum in Atlanta and Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.