Hill: National airline ground stop could create much-needed new SEC rivarly

Maybe we were wrong about conference realignment ruining college sports and diluting traditional rivalries.

If the past 24 hours are an indication, the simmering battle pitting Oklahoma against Ole Miss and the SEC could be the kind of feud that can save our passion for collegiate athletics.

At the crux of the dispute is the chaos caused by Friday’s national airspace shutdown that has affected millions of Americans in addition to athletic programs at all levels.

It was an inconvenient situation that caused many people and organizations to scramble for potential alternative plans should the shutdown extend late into the evening or through the weekend.

College football programs were not immune.

That included the UNLV football team, which returned to its facility on campus and waited out a charter flight to Albuquerque, New Mexico, that eventually boarded late at night. Other programs chose to board busses for their destinations. Every road team scheduled for an FBS game Saturday made it in time, even if some games had to be moved later in the day.

Except for Ole Miss. The Rebels said they were unable to travel to Oklahoma, and that’s where the chaos began.

If we are to follow the back and forth — and if you want to read all the passive aggressive statements through official channels and advocates of the programs, we suggest grabbing a big bowl of popcorn and snuggling under a blanket because some of the comments are meaner and nastier than those directed at the FAA and government Friday — SEC officials gave Oklahoma a choice to move the game to Sunday or be forced to forfeit.

Quite the choice. And not as easy as one would think.

Many Sooners fans travel in for games, meaning they would be out hotels and airline change fees if they wanted to stay, or be out tickets if they did not. Then there are the stadium workers , many of whom probably have second jobs, and now must be available on Sunday.

Church also is kind of a big deal on Sundays, especially in the Midwest. Not to mention the Olympic sports scheduled on campus that would be overshadowed. And the weather forecast that could make things ugly.

And Oklahoma has a tough game against Texas A&M next week that would be played on short rest while Ole Miss will play Wofford.

Yet, no options but to move it to Sunday or forfeit. So athletic director Roger Denny delivered a scathing rebuke of the decision.

“We were told that Ole Miss explored every avenue to travel to Norman and play on Saturday as planned,” Denny wrote. “But, unlike every other team traveling for competition tomorrow, they were unable to find a solution.”

Shots fired.

Every situation is unique. Ole Miss charters with JetBlue out of Tupelo, and their crew timed out. That means they either had to wait 10 hours or find a new crew. And they would have had to bus eight hours.

One wonders why college athletic conferences aren’t broken down into smaller regional areas to make things more convenient. That same person could wonder if Ole Miss would have found a way to get there if it were them that had been threatened with a forfeit if they didn’t make it in time. The bus option probably would look more acceptable.

But the SEC made the decision, and all hell broke loose on social media between the schools and conference and their fans.

Denny lashed out at longtime traditional SEC media mouthpiece Paul Finebaum, who had taken the side of the league and Ole Miss during a Saturday appearance on ESPN.

“I don’t know,” he told SoonerScoop of Oklahoma’s future relationship with the SEC. “They’ll probably send their carnival barker out there to accuse me of pandering again. And candidly, I don’t care.”

That nickname is sure to stick for Finebaum, which might be the best part of all of this.

There are no winners. It’s a terrible situation.

Ole Miss also is a charter member of the league, dating to 1932. Oklahoma joined like two years ago.

It’s no surprise which side the league took and probably should be a message to other schools desperate to make a jump to a different conference how they might be treated by the old guard in the new league.

But at least we might have a new rivalry. It adds more intrigue to Sunday’s game.

It probably will make people watch if they’re not in church. Or at brunch. Or watching the NFL.

You know, things you do on a Sunday.

Contact Adam Hill at [email protected]. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.