Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny has ripped into the Southeastern Conference (SEC) after the conference unexpectedly postponed their clash against Ole Miss.
The scheduling drama stems from Friday’s nationwide ground stop, which prevented the No. 19 ranked Rebels from flying out of Oxford on time for the Saturday game.
According to Denny, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey officially moved the game to 1pm Sunday over Oklahoma’s ‘strong objection.’
In a lengthy statement, Denny said: ‘We recognize the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the ground stoppage and understand the challenges it created for teams across the country. As soon as we learned of Ole Miss’ travel issues, we immediately began communicating with their staff and our conference leadership.
‘We were told that Ole Miss explored every avenue to travel to Norman and play on Saturday as planned. But, unlike every other team traveling for competition tomorrow, they were unable to find a solution.
‘After multiple conversations with the league office, Commissioner Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objection.
Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny has ripped into the Southeastern Conference (SEC) after the conference unexpectedly postponed their clash against Ole Miss
The scheduling drama stems from Friday’s nationwide ground stop, which prevented the No. 19 ranked Rebels from flying out of Oxford on time for the Saturday game
‘After continued discussions, he further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit.
‘Rescheduling the game has a significant impact, particularly on our fans. 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.
‘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. But we’ve been given no other choice. We are obligated to play the game when directed, but we remain steadfast in our belief that the wrong outcome was reached this evening.’
The SEC said they officially made the decision after the Rebels were unable to work out a late-night flight with their charter company, delaying their arrival into Norman.
This weekend’s college football slate was thrown into chaos after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prevented takeoffs at all airports across the country.
On Friday afternoon, the agency ordered a ground stop for every flight not in the air across the entirety of American airspace due to communication errors.
An FAA groundstop at all US airports has thrown chaos into the college football schedule
Denny said: ‘After multiple conversations with the league office, Commissioner Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objection’
This has led to delays and cancellations for thousands of domestic and international flights in the US.
According to reports from The Athletic and ESPN’s Pete Thamel, 15 FBS football programs have been affected by this issue and have yet to take off for their away games.
This includes four teams in the top-25: No. 2 Utah, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee, and No. 19 Mississippi.
Other Power Four schools affected include Arizona State, Baylor, Auburn, Kansas State, Purdue, Washington and Minnesota. Non-Power Four schools impacted include Tulane, Oregon State, Wyoming and North Texas.
