Finally, all my interests have converged!
While I agree that this is being handled poorly by the SEC, it is largely out of the hands of Ole Miss. The Ole Miss charter situation is a bit different than that of most other programs.
Ole Miss charters via JetBlue operating out of Tupelo Regional Airport, an hour bus trip from Oxford. KTUP is a small airport with little scheduled commercial traffic, it is uncontrolled after 10pm, and is not a hub or base of operations for JetBlue.
Due to the nationwide ground stop, the JetBlue crew operating the Ole Miss charter certainly would have timed out their duty day before the aircraft could depart.
Since it isn't a hub or base of operations, no relief crew would have been available to operate the charter tonight and no commercial flights departed from or arrived at KTUP after the ground stop was lifted so none could be flown in.
That means the earliest Ole Miss can depart would be when the rest period for the assigned crew is up, 10 hours, which only begins after the duty day ends. Depending on when that occurred, it is possible their next duty day couldn't even begin until after 8am. Add in an hour to bus/pre-flight, an hour to board, an hour and a half flight into Oklahoma City, an hour to load onto buses and half an hour to bus to Norman it would have been early afternoon before Ole Miss could get to OU.
Even if kick was delayed until evening, that would be pushing it in terms of player safety and it is also unclear if the SEC even offered a late Saturday kick time as an option.
Could an all-out last ditch effort made it work? Sure. But is an Ole Miss-Oklahoma game in mid-November worth making that all-out last ditch effort at the risk of player safety? I would personally say no. Unfortunately that means Oklahoma fans, through no fault of their own, get screwed. Knowing OU fans as I do, they'll find a way to make it hell on Ole Miss Sunday.
Sources: Alabama is expected to start Austin Mack at quarterback against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Starter Keelon Russell (ankle) is expected to be available, but the expectation is the Tide staff holds him out and lets his ankle heal. Russell has been listed as probable.
Kalen DeBoer giving his longtime backup QB Austin Mack a start just games before he *most likely* enters the transfer portal.
Proof once again, that he gets it, and is yet ANOTHER reason why 47 of his 48 recruits from the last 2 years are still on the roster and Alabama was the ONLY team to not lose a player to the Spring portal window 2 years ago better it went away.
Kalen rules.
Dan Hicks was beloved by all who had the privilege of knowing and working alongside him. His kindness, warmth, and presence will be deeply missed.
Like so many in the golf world, Dan was a great friend to me both on and off the course. I had the utmost respect for him and the incredible job he did for our sport for decades. Our thoughts are with Hannah and their daughters during this incredibly difficult time. I hope they find comfort in knowing how much he meant to so many people and the lasting impact he made on everyone whose life he touched.