OU-Tennessee is Officially Canceled
The Coronavirus shutdown has officially struck Oklahoma’s 2020 schedule.
Tennessee will not be in Norman on Sept. 12 as scheduled as the Southeastern Conference will resort to a 10-game, conference-only schedule this fall, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger.
The report says the SEC will begin the 2020 season on Sept. 26, rather than the scheduled Sept. 5 start. Teams will play their six divisional opponents, plus the usual two opponents from the other division, and will now add two interdivisional opponents.
Additional details of the SEC’s plan were not immediately available.
Oklahoma’s game against Tennessee was one of the Big 12 Conference’s premier non-conference games in 2020. Another was Texas’ Sept. 12 matchup with defending national champion LSU in Baton Rouge. Baylor’s Sept. 5 game against Ole Miss at Houston and Vanderbilt’s Sept. 19 game at Kansas State are also off the table.
The Big 12 had 11 games scheduled against opponents from other Power 5 leagues.
The league had rescheduled its 2020 media day to a virtual model on Monday, but canceled that on Monday as the SEC’s news came out. Kansas State coach Chris Klieman told reporters on a video conference call that he had “an emergency” meeting with other coaches scheduled for Thursday.
It’s unknown if the Big 12 will continue to try to play a 12-game schedule and replace games against the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC, or if the Big 12 will follow those leagues and implement a 10-game model.
The Sooners are still scheduled to host FCS Missouri State on Aug. 29 and visit Army on Sept. 26.
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