Northwestern State's four fall sports teams will begin their weekend travel Wednesday, ahead of schedule, to avoid potential risks due to Hurricane Isaac's unpredictable path, athletics director Greg Burke said Tuesday afternoon.
 
The NSU football and volleyball teams play this weekend at Texas Tech in Lubbock. The Lady Demon soccer and the NSU cross country teams compete this weekend in Tulsa.
 
Demon Quarterback Club Luncheons scheduled Wednesday in Natchitoches and Thursday in Shreveport have been cancelled. The NSU campus will be closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as a precautionary measure.
 
The Demon Huddle radio show slated for Wednesday night at the Cane River Grill in Natchitoches has been cancelled for this week.
 
The football team is expected to travel by bus Wednesday evening to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, then arrive Thursday evening in Lubbock as previously planned.

"As a staff, we thoroughly evaluated the situation, and as the wise saying goes, we decided to err on the side of caution," said Burke. "Without the ability to know exactly what the weather might be like Thursday, we thought the prudent move would be to get everyone headed out ahead of when any potentially difficult conditions could arrive.

"I was on an hour-long National Weather Service webinar this afternoon, during which they presented three different scenarios. One was not-so-bad, another, not-so-good, and the third was worst case. We didn't want to risk putting our young people and their traveling parties on the road in dangerous weather," said Burke.

NCAA rules typically prevent teams from leaving their campuses more than 48 hours prior to competition, but there are provisions for weather issues which made the decision possible, said Burke.