A Federal Aviation Administration ground stop triggered a late scheduling scramble across college football, leaving teams uncertain about when they could travel and whether their games would go ahead as planned.
Most games remained on the schedule for Saturday, but Ole Miss could not leave Oxford in time to play Oklahoma in Norman. The Southeastern Conference therefore moved the game to Sunday, November 15. The decision drew a sharp response from former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, who criticized SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on November 14.
“This decision by Greg Sankey is absolutely wrong,” Stoops wrote on X. He pointed to other teams that had found ways to travel, including Arizona State, which was flying across the country to play UCF that day.
Stoops argued that the conference could have told Ole Miss it risked forfeiting the game if it could not reach Norman, even if the kickoff had to be delayed. Instead, he said, Oklahoma was expected to accept a Sunday game and the possibility of a forfeit if it did not play at the time set by the conference.
The game had originally been scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Central Time on Saturday. Late Friday night, the SEC announced it would be played at noon Central Time on Sunday, November 15. The revised start time was also listed as 1 p.m. Eastern Time, with the SEC Network carrying the game.
Oklahoma’s athletic director and vice president, Roger Denny, said the university contacted Ole Miss and the conference as soon as it learned the Rebels were having trouble traveling. He said the university opposed the change but was told that failing to play at the assigned time on Sunday would result in a forfeit.
“Commissioner Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objection,” Denny said. “He further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit.”
Denny also said the decision created unnecessary difficulties for Oklahoma and its fans. Despite its objections, the university planned to take the field, he said, because it had no practical choice under the conference’s directive.
Stoops’ criticism carries weight because he coached Oklahoma for 18 seasons and led the Sooners to a national championship. He questioned why the conference placed the burden of adjusting on Oklahoma.
“He could have told Ole Miss they will forfeit if they didn’t find a way to Norman, even if game is delayed,” Stoops wrote. “But instead he didn’t!!”
Sankey’s account of the situation offered additional context about the challenges facing the conference. He was in New York on Friday for meetings and had put his phone away. When he checked it, he had received more than 30 messages about the FAA ground stop and the SEC’s Saturday schedule.
Sankey described the disruption as an unprecedented situation, with air travel halted on the Friday before a full schedule of games. He said conference officials had to make decisions without knowing how long the restrictions would last or what travel options would remain available.
“It was a national emergency, and we learned information in real time just like everybody else,” Sankey said. He also called the circumstances disappointing and defended the work of SEC staff in Birmingham and throughout the conference.
The lack of clear information made planning especially difficult, Sankey said. Officials did not know how long the interruption would continue, or even which questions they needed to answer before deciding how to proceed.
“There’s no information, so you don’t even know what the questions are,” Sankey said. “It’s unprecedented, and we will have to prepare differently for a future with this possibility in mind.”
The SEC faced a complicated travel emergency, but Stoops’ objection focused on the outcome: Oklahoma had to change its plans and play on Sunday after Ole Miss could not travel on time. The dispute left a central question hanging over the rescheduling: Could the conference have found another way to get Ole Miss to Norman without shifting the game to Sunday?
