Ole Miss-Oklahoma Game Moved to Sunday Following FAA Shutdown

Ole Miss has been put through the wringer over the past week, and Friday's FAA shutdown only made things tougher for the Rebels. According to Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports, Ole Miss will head to Oklahoma and kick off against the Sooners at 12:00 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Following an unprecedented day of schedule switchups in college football, Ole Miss will now play its make-or-break game in Norman on Sunday, marking a rare second game of the season on a Sunday for the Rebels.

Ole Miss was originally scheduled to depart Oxford on Friday ahead of Saturday's 3:15 p.m. CT kickoff. However, a nationwide ground stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration prevented the team from taking off. The FAA's decision followed a communications outage that affected air traffic control centers nationwide, grounding departing flights for more than four hours.

A Problem Not Limited to The Rebels

Nov 7, 2026; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Pete Golding jogs off the field at halftime against the Georgia Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Ole Miss was not alone in its travel troubles. Several programs nationwide had to reconsider their travel plans, with some opting for lengthy bus rides rather than waiting for flights to resume. Tennessee, Texas, Baylor, Utah and Washington were among the programs dealing with travel complications ahead of their respective matchups.

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The disruptions also forced conferences to adjust Saturday's slate. Auburn's matchup against Mississippi State moved from an 11 a.m. CT kickoff to 3:15 p.m. CT after the Tigers chose to travel by bus to Starkville.

In the Big 12, Arizona State's matchup against UCF was moved back two hours to accommodate the Sun Devils' delayed arrival in Florida. Kansas and West Virginia also switched kickoff windows, while the American Athletic Conference adjusted the start times for Tulane-Rice and Florida Atlantic-Tulsa.

Even after the FAA lifted its nationwide ground stop Friday evening, the damage to several teams' travel schedules had already been done. Ole Miss was among the programs unable to make its originally scheduled departure, forcing the Rebels and Sooners to work through an alternative plan.

While other SEC programs like Alabama opted to switch to busses for road trips, as the Crimson Tide did to get to Nashville for a matchup with Vanderbilt, The Rebels were forced to deal with the issues that could have came from a late decided eight hour drive to Norman, on the heels of a season changing loss last Saturday.

For Ole Miss, an extra day of preparation could be important after last week's 42-7 loss to Georgia. The Rebels enter the weekend at 6-3 and need to win their remaining regular-season games to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

What was supposed to be a typical Saturday road trip has now turned into an unusual Sunday showdown, with the Rebels hoping the additional travel complications do not carry over onto the field.

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