Baylor vs. BYU Could be in Jeopardy With Nationwide FAA Grounding of Flights
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The nation wide grounding of flights has the potential to cause some serious headaches in scheduling if planes are not allowed to take off on Friday the 13th.
Per reports, 10 Power Four and multiple Group of Six teams have had their travel plans interrupted by the nationwide grounding of flights. Baylor is among the teams affected by this on-going and still developing issue. The Bears are scheduled to take on BYU in Provo, Utah, at 2:30 p.m. CT, though if they aren't able to fly out this evening, a rescheduling may need to occur.
According to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, Baylor has returned to campus and the earliest it could depart for BYU would be Saturday morning.
Problem: BYU Doesn't Play on Sundays
BYU's contractually agreed terms that they will not play any games on a Sunday was written, and signed off on years ago when BYU came into the Big 12. Generally a college football team wouldn't need to worry about a Sunday game, however, these are extenuating circumstances, to say the least.
Arizona State and UCF are having a similar issue, though considerably farther away than Baylor-BYU. The likeliest of solutions will be either pushing the game later in the evening (as ASU and UCF are planning) or even a potential reschedule to Monday.
The Big 12 released a statement regarding the issue:
"Due to the national FAA ground stop impacting team travel, the Big 12 Conference is evaluating any potential changes to Saturday’s football schedule. The Conference will continue to monitor the travel disruptions alongside its member institutions and provide updates for Saturday’s games."
A Monday Game Would Mean a Short Week for Baylor
If the BYU game is pushed out until Monday, not only will it throw a lot of both teams' schedules and routines out of whack in the most important point of both of their seasons, competition for next week doesn't exactly get easier as Texas Tech will be traveling to Waco to take on the Bears. But, effectively four days to rest-recoup-practice before taking on another CFP top 15 team? Bring it on.
Not an Ideal Friday Night for the Bears
The travel plans for 10 Power 4 conference football teams and several from the Group of 6 have been disrupted by the FAA nationwide ground stop of all flights on Friday. https://t.co/V2wadoDonN
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 13, 2026
Honestly, it's the early slated game that's the biggest issue here. I mean, other than the flights not being allowed to take off; there's also that. The 12:30 p.m. PT/2:30p.m. CT scheduled start time is working against the Bears here. However, if the game is pushed until later into Saturday evening, similar to how ASU and UCF have already accommodated for their travel issues. We'll be keeping you as up to date as this story continues to unfold and develop.
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Brad is a writer and contributes to the Baylor Bears on SI, with aspirations to share his own unique thoughts and perspectives with fans. Whether through the facts and figures of the past or the untold potential and triumphs of the future, sports have always been a large influence on Brad's storytelling and life overall. His inspiration to write began while watching sports when he first noticed the highs and lows of each game, each quarter, each play; there's a story in each of them worth telling, and he wanted to tell them.
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