Oklahoma’s efforts to prevent the Southeastern Conference from moving its home game against Ole Miss to Sunday ended in defeat after a nationwide ground stop disrupted the Rebels’ flight plans and sparked a Friday night dispute with conference officials.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey ordered the game moved from Saturday afternoon to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in Norman. The decision came after Ole Miss was unable to secure a charter flight from Tupelo, Mississippi, to Oklahoma City following the FAA’s decision.
Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny said the university strongly opposed the change. He added that Sankey warned the Sooners they would forfeit if they refused to play at the directed time.” Put simply, this decision isn’t fair to our athletes, our institution or to Sooner Nation,” Denny said in a statement released early Saturday. “But we’ve been given no other choice.”
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— Roger Denny (@Oklahoma_AD) November 14, 2026
The FAA issued the ground stop shortly before 4 p.m. ET Friday after communication problems affected multiple air traffic control centers across the country. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the disruptions were due to overloaded switches and routers. The order was lifted at 8:15 p.m. ET after thousands of flights were delayed or canceled.
Ole Miss officials said the earliest available charter flight was Saturday at 4:20 p.m., making the original 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff impossible. The Rebels had sent players home Friday afternoon before asking them to return to the football facility for updates. While other SEC teams eventually arranged alternative transportation, including Auburn, which traveled by bus for its game at Mississippi State, the conference sided with Ole Miss.
Denny expressed frustration over the impact on Oklahoma fans who had arranged travel and accommodations for a Saturday game. Television plans for Sunday’s matchup have not been announced. This also runs up against the first round of the NFL schedule for Sunday’s action.
Oklahoma (5-4) enters this week on a high note after a 23-7 victory at Florida. The Sooners need one more win to become bowl eligible. As for Ole Miss (6-3), the Rebels are looking to rebound from a 42-7 home loss to Georgia that dropped them to No. 19 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
