Big 12 news: Conference releases statements on possible schedule changes as FAA grounds flights

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has suspended all flights across the United States due to a significant communication breakdown. This event took place the day prior to several set football matches. The University of Purdue will now need to travel by bus to their game in Iowa. Teams from Texas, Tennessee, and Utah may also be affected.

On Friday, the Big 12 Conference announced their intention to potentially alter the football schedule for Saturday following the aviation crisis. According to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, "Because the national FAA ground stop is affecting team travel, the Big 12 Conference is assessing potential modifications to Saturday's football schedule. The conference will persist in monitoring the travel disruptions together with its member schools and will furnish updates concerning Saturday's games."

At present, the Big 12 Conference has seven football games scheduled. These include matches between Cincinnati and Iowa State, Kansas State and TCU, Baylor and BYU (formerly Brigham Young University), Arizona State and UCF, Kansas and West Virginia, Utah and Arizona, and Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. BYU is striving to secure a playoff berth, while Arizona State and UCF aim for a 5-4 record to improve their NCAA tournament prospects. However, all these aspirations could now be compromised.

The incident occurred before 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST) when Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials reported a communication and router failure that significantly disrupted en route air traffic control. To date, there is no indication of any cyberattacks. As a result, over 10,000 flights have been delayed, and more than 4,000 have been cancelled.