Among the many travel problems caused by the surprise FAA ground stop was a change to this weekend’s college football schedule.
And now, one prominent SEC matchup has been postponed a whole day.
The SEC announced that Saturday’s game between Ole Miss and Oklahoma in Norman will now be played on Sunday, when most NFL games are played.
Ole Miss-Oklahoma has a new time
The game, originally set for Saturday at 4:15 p.m. Eastern time, will now kick off at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the SEC announced.
What happened?
Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday afternoon, ordering all planes to come down after what has been described as a communication issue.
Transportation officials said “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communication problems at regional air traffic control centers were responsible for the stoppage.
Most college football teams playing on Saturday usually travel the day before their game, and the stoppage left many schools looking for answers.
The problem lasted about four hours, after which the FAA announced that airplane departures could resume as normal.
But not before it was apparently too late for Ole Miss to board its flight bound for Norman, Okla., forcing the SEC to step in.
Oklahoma is… not happy about it
Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny issued a blunt statement describing his school’s objection to the SEC’s decision.
And he threw what sounded like a little shade at Ole Miss in the process.
“As soon as we learned of Ole Miss’ travel issues, we immediately began communicating with their staff and our conference leadership. We were told that Ole Miss explored every avenue to travel to Norman and play on Saturday as planned,” he said.
“But, unlike every other team traveling for competition tomorrow, they were unable to find a solution,” he added.
Denny also said that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey threatened Oklahoma with a loss if they didn’t postpone.
“After continued discussions, he further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit,” Denny said.
He added: “Rescheduling the game has a significant impact, particularly on our fans. Those who have made travel arrangements, accommodations, and personal plans around a Saturday game now face unnecessary disruption and hardship.”
Other games have been affected
The matchup between the Sooners and Rebels wasn’t the only one affected by the FAA ground stop.
Baylor at BYU: Moved to 7 p.m. Eastern.
Washington at Michigan State: Moved to 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
Utah at Arizona: Moved to 10:30 p.m. Eastern.
Auburn at Mississippi State: Moved to 4:15 p.m. Eastern.
Tulane at Rice: Moved to 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
Kansas at West Virginia: Moved to 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
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