Oklahoma's Matchup With No. 19 Ole Miss Pushed Back Over Sooners' Objections

NORMAN -Oklahoma's matchup with No. 19 Ole Miss will move to Sunday, the SEC announced early Saturday morning.

The game was originally scheduled to kick off at 3:15 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family -Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and air on the SEC Network but was moved after the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stoppage that began around 3 p.m. Friday.

Instead, the game will kick off at noon Sunday. Television coverage has not yet been announced.

"After the stoppage was lifted, a late-night departure could not be accomodated by the charter company with which Ole Miss was contracted and the team's departure has been delayed until Saturday afternoon," the SEC's announcedment said.

GAME UPDATE:
The @OleMissFB at @OU_Football game has been moved to Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1 PM ET / Noon CT due to travel issues related to Friday's nationwide FAA ground stoppage.
Television network is TBA.#SECFBpic.twitter.com/2B63eTmoTA

- Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 14, 2026

Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny also weighed in on X and offered his perspective, which included "strong objections" from OU.

"We were told that Ole Miss explored every avenue to travel to Norman and play on Saturday as planned," Denny posted. "But, unlike every other team traveling for competition tomorrow, they were unable to find a solution. After multiple conversations with the league office, Commissionaer (Greg) Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objections.

"After continued discussions, he further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit."

Denny was far from done.

"I understand that difficult decisions sometimes must be made under extraordinary circumstances," Denny posted. "But these 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."

pic.twitter.com/6z039iPC1m

- Roger Denny (@Oklahoma_AD) November 14, 2026

The Sooners haven't played a regular-season game on a Sunday since Sept. 1, 2019 when they took on Houston in the season opener at Gaylord Family -Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

After the ground stoppage began, Ole Miss players were sent home and told to report later as the ground stop wasn't scheduled to be lifted until 10 p.m.

But when the ground stop was lifted at just after 7 p.m. instead, the decision was made for the Rebels to remain home and travel Saturday instead.

Ole Miss typically flies out of Tupelo, Miss., about an hour from Oxford.

The OU-Ole Miss game isn't the only one affected by the stoppage.

Auburn's matchup with Mississippi State was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. but was pushed back to 3:15 p.m. Auburn traveled by bus to Starkville, a more than four-hour trip.

The shift in that game was announced around 9 p.m. Friday.

In the Big 12, Kansas' game at West Virginia was moved to 2:30 p.m., while Arizona State's game at UCF was pushed back to 4:30 p.m. and Baylor's game at BYU shifted to 6 p.m. Utah's game at Arizona has been pushed back to 9:30 p.m.

The scheduling change is the first since September 2021 when Oklahoma's scheduled game at Tulane was shifted to Norman due to Hurricane Ida. The Sooners were the designated visiting team in their own home stadium and held off a late push by the Green Wave to win that game 40-35.

The shift figures to affect OU more moving forward than Ole Miss.

The Sooners are set to host Texas A&M next Saturday, and while the Aggies have struggled, preparing for an SEC game with one fewer day to prepare and recover is not ideal.

Ole Miss, in comparison, is scheduled to take on FCS Wofford next Saturday.

Oklahoma has yet to beat Ole Miss, losing all three meetings between the teams, including in each of the last two seasons since the Sooners joined the SEC.

The matchup is one of three set annual matchups for OU. Texas and Missouri are the other two annual rivals for the Sooners.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/oklahoma as Oklahoma's Matchup With No. 19 Ole Miss Pushed Back Over Sooners' Objections.