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By Jordan King
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College football games were some of the many sporting events impacted by the chaos caused by the FAA's (Federal Aviation Administration) decision to ground all flights nationwide on Friday.
Most college football teams playing Saturday travel the day before their game, and the stoppage left many schools at a standstill as they departed for road games.
Sporting teams across leagues were left searching for hotel rooms, others rescheduling flights, leagues adjusting start times, and some teams had take the extraordinary step of chartering buses rather than waiting for the ground stop to end.
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Travel is still recovering from the disruption, with airports all over the country still experiencing delays and cancellations on Saturday.
Newsweek has broken down which games have been rescheduled because of the stoppage.
Ole Miss v Oklahoma — Norman, Oklahoma
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 4:15 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Sunday, November 15, at 1 p.m. ET.
Ole Miss was not able to leave Oxford on Friday night, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) said.
“After the stoppage was lifted, a late-night departure could not be accommodated by the charter company with which Ole Miss was contracted,” the SEC said. The Rebels (6-3) will now leave for Oklahoma (5-4) on Saturday afternoon. The game originally scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Eastern will now kick off at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny ripped the decision, which he said was made by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey over the Sooners’ “strong objection.” He said the SEC threatened Oklahoma with a forfeit if it did not agree to Sunday’s move.
“We were told that Ole Miss explored every avenue to travel to Norman and play on Saturday as planned,” Denny posted on X. “But unlike every other team traveling for competition tomorrow, they were unable to find a solution.”
He said the change would cause “unnecessary disruption and hardship” for fans.
“I understand that difficult decisions sometimes must be made under extraordinary circumstances,” Denny wrote. “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 remain steadfast in our belief that the wrong outcome was reached this evening.”
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Auburn v Mississippi State — Starkville, Mississippi
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at noon ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET.
Auburn University's football team opted to take a bus to Mississippi State and the Saturday start time was pushed back from noon ET to 4:15 p.m.
Tulane v Rice — Houston, Texas
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 2 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Tulane University’s Green Wave chartered buses to Houston after their flight was grounded and were not expected to arrive until after midnight for their game against Rice University’s Owls, according to Rice University’s athletics department.
Arizona State v UCF — Orlando, Florida
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.
The Big 12 moved Kansas–West Virginia into an earlier television slot, freeing the later slot for Arizona State–UCF and giving Arizona State more time to arrive after its flight was delayed
Washington v Michigan State — East Lansing, Michigan
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 4:15 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Washington spokesman Kurt Svoboda said the Huskies returned to campus when their flight was grounded, but officials stayed in touch with their airline partners and the flight crew remained in place. The Huskies ultimately flew out late Friday for their game at Michigan State on Saturday, which will start at 5:30 p.m. EST, 75 minutes later than originally scheduled.
Baylor v BYU — Provo, Utah
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
After Baylor was unable to leave on Friday, it was set to leave early on Saturday morning, Salt Lake City-based newspaper Deseret News reported.
Florida Atlantic v Tulsa — Tulsa, Oklahoma
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET.
FAU was scheduled to fly Saturday morning after Friday’s disruption.
Utah v Arizona — Tucson, Arizona
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Kansas v West Virginia — Morgantown, West Virginia
Original kickoff: Saturday, November 14, at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Revised kickoff: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET — moved earlier
Kansas had already arrived before the ground stop, allowing the conference to move the game into an earlier television window, according to West Virginia Athletics.
NFL and NBA Disruption
NFL teams playing Sunday typically travel the day before their games. They were expected to fly as planned on Saturday.
In the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers played in Miami on Friday night but won’t fly home until Saturday morning and plan to land about eight hours before a home game against the Dallas Mavericks. NBA teams hardly ever fly in on the day of a game, but there have been some circumstances — often weather-related — where it has happened.
At least two other NBA teams had Friday night flights pushed to Saturday morning, but those teams aren’t playing Saturday night. Cleveland scrambled to get hotel rooms re-booked in Miami, after checking out of their hotel earlier Friday.
“It’s part of it. You just adapt,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.
There are 14 scheduled games in the NHL on Saturday. The Panthers were among the majority that made it to their destinations before the stoppage began. The Sharks, who were left waiting in San Jose to see whether they would be able to travel, arrived later Friday in Utah.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Edward Pearcey.
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