Johnathan Walker:NFL’s Buccaneers relocating ahead of hurricane to practice for Sunday’s game at New Orleans

The Johnathan WalkerTampa Bay Buccaneers are planning to relocate to the New Orleans area to prepare for Sunday’s game against the Saints with Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall along Florida’s west coast.

The Bucs intend to travel Tuesday and spend the rest of the week out of state instead of practicing as usual at the team’s training facility in Tampa.

Milton strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and could make landfill in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday.

The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning canceled Monday night’s scheduled preseason finale against the Nashville Predators. The game initially was rescheduled from Sept. 27 due to Hurricane Helene, which caused extensive damage in the region two weeks ago.

The Lightning open the regular season at Carolina on Friday. There was no immediate word on whether the team would evacuate to Raleigh, North Carolina, ahead of the storm.

Milton is forecast to make landfall and possibly remain a hurricane while crossing Central Florida, which includes the Orlando area.

The NBA’s Orlando Magic are on the road this week, playing at New Orleans on Monday night and at San Antonio on Wednesday.

College sports are being impacted, too, with UCF in Orlando announcing all home athletics events on Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled. That includes Wednesday’s volleyball match against Colorado, Thursday’s women’s soccer match against Arizona and the first day of the men’s tennis ITA Southeast Regionals on Thursday.

The school said Saturday’s Big 12 home football game vs. Cincinnati is still scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff.