The University of Oklahoma and the SEC announced a schedule change to the Sooners Week 11 matchup with Ole Miss just after midnight Saturday morning. In response to Ole Miss’ inability to travel in the wake of the FAA ground stoppage that occurred Friday afternoon, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey decided to move the OU-Ole Miss game to Sunday at Noon CT.
The broadcast information for the game is still to be determined. The game was originally slated for SEC Network, but with the change to Sunday, network schedules will need to be shifted around to accommodate the change.
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This came after a lot of discussion between leadership at Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and in the SEC offense. Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny shared in a statement that Ole Miss couldn’t figure out a way to get to Norman until after the game was supposed to kickoff.
“We recognize the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the ground stoppage and understand the challenges they created for teams across the country” Denny said in a statement. “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. But, unlike every other team traveling for competition tomorrow, they were unable to find a solution. After multiple conversations with the league office, Commissioner Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objection. After continued discussions, he further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit.”
The SEC forced Oklahoma’s hand. Play on Sunday or forfeit the game to Ole Miss. So, the Oklahoma Sooners are playing on Sunday. And that creates a lot of logistical issues for the fans.
“Rescheduling the game has a significant impact, particularly on our fans,” Denny said. “Those who have made travel arrangements, accommodations and personal plans around a Saturday game now face unnecessary disruption and hardship. Their time, commitment and investment deserve greater consideration than they were afforded in the conference’s decision tonight.”
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While Denny expressed understanding of the difficulties Ole Miss and the conference faced, he was fervent in his belief that this decision wasn’t made in the best interest of the fans or even the players involved.
Denny’s statement continued, “I understand that difficult decisions sometimes must be made under extraordinary circumstances. But those decisions must also consider the impact on everyone involved. Put simply, this decision isn’t fair to our athletes, our institution or to Sooner Nation. But we’ve been given no other choice. We are obligated to play the game when directed, but we remain steadfast in our belief that the wrong outcome was reached this evening. We will continue to fight in the best interests of OU Athletics and always on behalf of our student-athletes and fans.”
Now that the decision has been made, it’s time to spot the ball and build off of a big win on the road over the Florida Gators.
