The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground all flights nationwide for several hours Friday disrupted travel plans across the sports world. NBA, NHL and college teams were left trying to reach their destinations before games scheduled throughout the weekend.

The ground stop lasted more than four hours before the FAA announced Friday evening that airplane departures could resume. Transportation officials attributed the stoppage to “extraordinary circumstances” involving communications issues at regional air traffic control centers.

More than 2,500 flights were canceled nationwide, while hundreds more were delayed. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy encouraged NCAA football teams to contact the FAA so the agency could help prioritize flights for Saturday’s games.

Most college football teams playing Saturday travel one day before their games. No. 2 Utah, No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Tennessee were among the schools at a standstill while preparing for road games against No. 22 Arizona, No. 24 LSU and Texas A&M, respectively.

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Texas and Tennessee returned to their campuses during the stoppage. After the restrictions were lifted, both schools began arranging new departures and landed at their respective destinations late Friday night.

No. 19 Ole Miss did not travel to Oklahoma on Friday night, prompting the SEC to move the game to Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Auburn used buses to reach Mississippi State, and that game’s start time was changed from noon ET to 4:15 p.m.

Purdue also turned to buses, traveling from West Lafayette, Indiana, for its game at No. 15 Iowa. In the Big 12, Kansas at West Virginia was moved to 3:30 p.m. ET, while Baylor at No. 10 BYU was rescheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

Arizona State deplaned and returned home to rest during the ground stop, with plans to fly to Orlando, Florida, on Saturday. The Sun Devils’ game against UCF was moved from its original 3:30 p.m. ET start to 5:30 p.m.

Oregon State initially began traveling by bus for its Saturday game at No. 24 Boise State before returning to the airport Friday evening. The Beavers later boarded a plane for Boise ahead of the game scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.

Wyoming and Colorado State were among the Group of 6 teams grounded. Colorado State players held a walk-through at Northern Colorado Regional Airport while waiting to depart for their game against Washington State.

Tulane had been scheduled to fly to Houston for Saturday’s game against Rice but instead was set to board five buses for the 350 mile drive Friday night. Washington, Kansas State and Minnesota were also affected by the stoppage.

Washington spokesperson Kurt Svoboda said the Huskies returned to campus after flights were grounded. Team officials remained in contact with their Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines partners, and the flight crew stayed in place as Washington planned a late Friday departure.

Concerns also extended to officials who typically fly to assignments one day before games. The Big Ten said all of its officials had arrived for their scheduled Saturday assignments, while every ACC team traveling that weekend had departed before the stoppage began.

Missouri also left before the stoppage for its game at top ranked Georgia, as did Duke for its visit to Miami, which was ranked fifth. No. 10 Texas Tech posted social media images showing its arrival for a game at Oklahoma State.

NFL teams playing Sunday typically travel the day before games and were expected to fly as planned Saturday. In the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets were among five teams scheduled to travel Friday for Saturday games, but their flight from New Orleans to Memphis was halted after they boarded.

The Detroit Pistons had flown to Miami earlier Friday. Cleveland, Chicago and Memphis played Friday night and were scheduled to travel afterward, while the Cavaliers scrambled to find hotel rooms before deciding to remain overnight and leave at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“It’s part of it. You just adapt,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.

The NHL had 14 games scheduled Saturday. Florida reached its destination before the stoppage, but San Jose remained home while waiting to learn whether it could travel to Utah.

USC, ranked third, was trying to reach South Carolina for Sunday’s basketball game against the top ranked Gamecocks. The team deboarded at Los Angeles International Airport after the ground stop was issued and returned to the Galen Center.

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