College football schedule adjusted after FAA flight grounding
A federal aviation shutdown forced several college football games to shift start times, moving the Ole Miss-Oklahoma matchup to Sunday.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s nationwide flight grounding on Friday caused multiple college football games to revise their kickoff times for the weekend. Eight contests were affected, with the most prominent change being the Mississippi-Oklahoma game, which moved from Saturday at 4:15 p.m. ET to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s revised slate includes Kansas vs. West Virginia at 3:30 p.m. ET, Auburn vs. Mississippi State at 4:15 p.m. ET, Tulane vs. Rice at 4:30 p.m. ET, Arizona State vs. Central Florida at 5:30 p.m. ET, Michigan State vs. Washington at 5:30 p.m. ET, Florida Atlantic vs. Tulsa at 7:15 p.m. ET, and Utah vs. Arizona at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Sunday’s only listed game is Mississippi vs. Oklahoma at 1 p.m. ET. Central Oklahoma athletic director Stan Wagnon said ticket holders for the Rebels-Sooners game can use their tickets for free admission to the Bronchos’ home football game against Missouri Western at 1 p.m. ET and the men’s basketball game against Oklahoma Christian at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The FAA halted all flights around 4 p.m. ET on Friday due to a telecommunications outage, lifting the restriction about four hours later. More than 15,000 flights were delayed or canceled, and roughly 3,000 scheduled for Saturday were expected to be affected. Road teams typically travel the day before a game; the SEC noted that Ole Miss’s charter provider could not accommodate a late-night Friday departure, delaying the team’s travel to Norman until Saturday afternoon. Utah also postponed its travel to Saturday morning but will still play the scheduled game three hours later than planned. Kansas vs. West Virginia moved up from a 5:30 p.m. slot to 3:30 p.m. ET because the Jayhawks had already arrived in West Virginia, filling an opening on ESPN2.