The entire college football world found itself in a bind Friday evening when the FAA suddenly issued a nationwide ground stop that disrupted travel for several teams.
One team affected was the No. 19 Ole Miss Rebels, who are set to take on the Oklahoma Sooners this weekend.
The game was originally scheduled for Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET. However, Ole Miss said it couldn’t secure flights to Norman on Friday night, even after the FAA lifted the ground stop, and pushed the SEC to make a drastic change to the kickoff time.
Instead of moving kickoff back a couple of hours to give the Rebels a chance to take a bus or find a way to catch a flight Saturday morning, the SEC moved the game all the way to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Ole Miss will now depart Saturday afternoon.
Oklahoma AD Releases Statement on Decision
As expected, Oklahoma fans were not happy with the decision. Athletic director Roger Denny released a statement early Saturday morning addressing the move.
Denny revealed that SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey informed Oklahoma that the team would forfeit if it didn’t play on Sunday.
“After multiple conversations with the league office. Commissioner [Greg] Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objection. … He further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit,” Denny said, via ESPN. “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.
“Rescheduling the game has a significant impact, particularly on our fans,” Denny added. “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.”
Despite objections by Oklahoma AD Roger Denny, the Sooners’ home game against No. 19 Ole Miss was moved from Saturday to Sunday after the FAA’s nationwide ground stop disrupted travel for several college football teams Friday, the SEC announced. https://t.co/WDqp2D3hX4
— ESPN (@espn) November 14, 2026
Ole Miss Facing Major Backlash
Ole Miss’ decision not to take buses to Norman and instead push for the game to move nearly 24 hours beyond its original kickoff time has sparked significant backlash on social media from fans and media members alike.
Will Compton wrote, “Ole Miss not hitting an 8-hour bus ride will sadly go down as the softest move in the 2026 college football season. A lot of ‘anywhere, anytime’ speeches happening right now… Not at Ole Miss They’re not football guys Sad.”
“Honest question… Why didn’t Ole Miss hop on a bus like 5 hours ago?” someone else posted.
Another person said, “I am going to need someone to explain to me like I am 5 years old. How is OU is the one being punished for Ole Miss not getting on a bus this evening and driving to Norman. Or not figuring out a way to get on a plane before 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.”
“Ole Miss is about an 8-hour bus ride away from Oklahoma. Instead of bussing due to flights being grounded, they stalled, & convinced the SEC to move their game vs Oklahoma to Sunday. This is an all-time soft move, which will hurt Oklahoma’s home field advantage,” a fan added.
One more person posted, “Turns out Kiffin was right. Ole Miss paper soft.”
Ole Miss Facing Major Backlash Over Game Time Change Against Oklahoma