Houston, we have a problem.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rare nationwide ground stop for all departing U.S. flights on Friday afternoon and has grounded flights until further notice. That has caused travel issues for multiple college football teams trying to take to the skies to reach their weekend playing destination, including Ole Miss, which is scheduled to play Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon in Norman.
The Athletic's David Ubben reported Ole Miss, among a number of other teams, is still trying to figure out travel to get to where they need to be to play. Most teams, though, were able to arrive safely before the stoppage, including Texas Tech, which is also in Oklahoma to play Oklahoma State for a late game.
Tennessee, Washington and Ole Miss are trying to finalize transit to road games this weekend. No idea how long this FAA grounding will be.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) November 13, 2026
Wake Forest, Mizzou and South Carolina have already arrived to their destinations.
Chase Parham, who covers Ole Miss for 247Sports and CBS Sports, later reported at 4:30 p.m. CT that the team was told to go home until 6 p.m. CT. According to Parham, the Rebels plan to leave tonight, or the game getting postponed until Sunday is also a possibility, but then he later added that the SEC had not given an option to play any other time that what's scheduled.
Parham also said that Ole Miss has no plans to bus all the way to Norman. It would be about an eight-hour bus ride from Oxford to Norman, and multiple other teams have already loaded a bus. Had the Rebels hit the road instead of going back home, they could have been in Norman by midnight.
Ole Miss players told to go home and report back at 7 pm. Scuttlebutt is the Rebels will fly out tonight or game could get pushed to Sunday.
— Chase Parham (@ChaseParham) November 13, 2026
College football travel disrupted by FAA stoppage
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy confirmed the stoppage on Friday. According to Duffy, the FAA "issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue."
The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) November 13, 2026
Ironically, Duffy's update came almost exactly 24 hours before the Sooners and Rebels are scheduled to kick off from Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at 3:15 p.m. CT.
Duffy also added that he will continue to provide updates, but as of writing, it's still unknown when travel will resume, and when it does, there will be plenty of delays. That could make for a late night for the Rebels, or at the very least, a long and stressful travel day before taking on the Sooners.
The FAA later updated with a post at 4:02 p.m. stating: "There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis."
There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) November 13, 2026
This is only the third time in U.S. history that the FAA has ordered a nationwide departure ground stop. The first time was on Sept. 11, 2001. The next time was more recently, in January 2023, because of a computer system malfunction. The most recent delay lasted just over an hour, so this one has already surpassed that.
Either the programs or SEC will likely make an announcement if travel issues are prolonged enough to delay any games on Saturday, including OU-Ole Miss. As long as the Rebels get to Norman by tonight, kickoff should still happen at 3:15 p.m.
The SEC released a statement at 5:30 p.m., but it was actually no update at all.
Statement from the Southeastern Conference on FAA nationwide ground stop: pic.twitter.com/IIU4TnwMVJ
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 13, 2026
We will update Ole Miss' travel status as more is reported or if there are any game delays.
Add us as a preferred source on Google