Hurricane Ida Causes Oklahoma-Tulane Game To Relocate

This Saturday’s Oklahoma-Tulane football game has been moved from New Orleans to Norman because of Hurricane Ida.

Kickoff will still be at 11:00 a.m. CT, and will air on ABC as originally planned. The change in venue does not affect Tulane’s ‘home team’ status: all tickets will be sold separately and Tulane will retain all net proceeds from the gate.

In addition to moving this game, the two teams have agreed to schedule another game in New Orleans in the near future, if possible.

Hurricane Ida tore through all corners of Louisiana this weekend, knocking out power all across New Orleans and leaving many residents without running water.

"This is obviously a heart-wrenching time," OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said. "We have been reminded again of the life events that take precedence over everything else we do. Our thoughts and prayers are with Tulane President Michael Fitts, Athletics Director Troy Dannen, the Tulane community and everyone impacted by this storm.

"I know that many of our fans were looking forward to visiting one of our favorite cities, New Orleans. But now, we have an opportunity to do what we do best, and that is extend our hospitality to people who are facing a significant challenge. All of us will do our part to make the Tulane team and fans feel welcome and appreciated as we host their home game."

Only the lower bowl (including club levels, loge boxes and suites) of Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium will be used for fan seating, so the atmosphere will be more intimate than a typical Sooner home game environment.

"I wish that we could accommodate a full stadium for this game, but these are challenging circumstances with very little notice," Castiglione said. "We rely on hundreds of trained professionals from several agencies to work with us on game day and have learned that it is not possible to be fully staffed for this event. We have thoroughly assessed the many aspects of hosting a game and there is no question that this is the right course of action."

Tulane will be listed as the ‘home team,’ but obviously the majority of the stadium will be supporting Oklahoma. It’s unclear how many Tulane fans will even be able to make the trip, given the emergency nature of their home city and neighborhoods. FanDuel Sportsbook has the game listed at Oklahoma (-31.5), with the total set at (69.5).