Tennessee’s trip to College Station hit a snag Friday afternoon when a nationwide FAA ground stop left the Volunteers stuck in Knoxville ahead of Saturday’s road game at Texas A&M.
According to On3’s Chris Low, Tennessee was grounded after the FAA halted all air traffic because of a communication issue. The report came at 5:15 p.m.
ET, a little more than an hour after the FAA’s ground stop was issued at 3:54 p.m. ET.
By 6 p.m. ET, Tennessee had returned to the facility for dinner and was waiting for further instruction there.
The situation has created travel headaches across college football. On3 reported that Florida, South Carolina and Missouri had already landed at their game sites, while Tennessee, Texas and Ole Miss were still grounded for their road trips. Auburn, meanwhile, changed plans and switched from flying to bussing to Mississippi State.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel described Tennessee as being in “flight limbo.”
Teams in flight limbo:
Big 12: Baylor, Kansas State, Utah and Arizona State
SEC: Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas
ACC: All visiting teams on the ground.
Big Ten: Minnesota, Purdue and Washington
ALSO confirmed in limbo - Oregon State, Wyoming and North Texas.
The FAA said the nationwide ground stop affected all U.S. airports after a communication issue hit all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, and that technicians were investigating the problem.
No. 8 Tennessee is still scheduled to face Texas A&M at 3:00 p.m.
ET Saturday in College Station. As of Friday afternoon, the Volunteers were a 2.5-point favorite on DraftKings.
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