Oklahoma-Tulane officially moved to Norman

The site of Saturday’s Oklahoma, Tulane game has officially been moved. Both schools formalized the announcement on Monday night.

The Week 1 game will be played in Norman, Oklahoma, at Memorial Stadium. Scheduled to be held at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans, the game has been move in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

The season opener for both teams will still be played at noon EST on Saturday. TV information has yet to be finalized with the change in location. The move in location was initially reported by The Athletic.

“In light of the catastrophic damage sustained by the City of New Orleans and, after consulting with our emergency preparedness and response teams at the institutional, local and state levels, we will relocate our Sept. 4 football game against the University of Oklahoma to Norman, Oklahoma,” Tulane athletic director Troy Dannen said in a statement. “While game time will remain 11:00 AM, television information and other game-specific details will be announced by the University of Oklahoma. We appreciate the understanding, support and communication with the University of Oklahoma, especially Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione.” 

Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday, exactly 16 years following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm has already wreaked havoc on the sports world in recent days.

Tulane relocated to Birmingham, Alabama for the week. The team hoped that the game would remain on as originally scheduled at home. Instead, the two teams will head to Oklahoma and the No. 2 Sooners will get a home game to open their 2021 season.

“In this extraordinarily difficult moment for the people of Louisiana, we want to do our small part by assisting Tulane with the game this weekend,” Oklahoma president President Joseph Harroz Jr. said. “While we regret that it’s necessary for us to host it, we will welcome the Tulane family this Saturday with open arms and heavy hearts. We hope this act is one small way that we can help alleviate some of the stress the university is currently enduring.

“Our thoughts and prayers will continue to be with all those impacted and those helping with the relief and recovery in the coming weeks and months.”