Isaac: early departure for NSU road games

Athletics director Greg Burke says Northwestern State's four fall sports teams will leave Natchitoches (NAK-uh-tesh) early for weekend games to avoid possible risks from Hurricane Isaac's unpredictable path.

The university will be closed Wednesday through Friday as a precaution. Burke says the football, volleyball, women's soccer and cross-country teams all will leave on Wednesday, a day earlier than planned.

The football and volleyball teams play at Texas Tech in Lubbock, and the other two teams will be in Tulsa.

Burke says that there's no way to know what the weather will be like Thursday, so staffers felt it made sense to leave early.

NCAA teams generally cannot leave more than 48 hours before competition, but Burke says there are exceptions for bad weather.