Thanks to a decision by the Big 12 Conference, Oklahoma’s football team will not travel play Army this fall.

And OU will move its home game with Missouri State probably to Sept. 5 or 12 because MSU’s league, the Mid-America Conference voted to move its conference football schedule to the spring. It will allow teams to play nonconference games this fall.

MSU and OU want to play because it is the only nonconference game left on OU’s schedule since Tennessee and Army canceled and MSU covets the $600,000 paycheck it will get from OU.

The Big 12 voted to play only nine conference games and only one nonconference game and that game must be played at home.

Oklahoma lost its home game with Tennessee when the Southeastern Conference voted to play only conference games.  OU had moved its home game with Missouri State to August 29.

OU coach Lincoln Riley suspended practice Friday and sent his players home due to shift in scheduling.

“We decided it’s best to give our players some time off,” Riley said in a statement. “We were able to start camp before the vast majority of teams because our Aug. 29 season-opening game date was the earliest in the country. With that first game pushed back a week or two, it only makes sense to spread out our practices and give our guys some time away. They’ve done a great job so far.”

The West Point athletic department said the OU game had been canceled. It was originally scheduled for Sept. 26 at Michie Stadium in New York. The game had previously been in doubt because liberal New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-New York, had put restrictions on travelers from Oklahoma due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Army Director of Athletics Mike Buddie said he is already working on trying to find a future date for the game. Army played at Oklahoma in 2018 and nearly upset the No. 5 Sooners, losing 21-28 in overtime. That was the lowest score OU – led by quarterback Kyler Murray – had all year.

The cancellation leaves Army now with three open dates because of cancellation of games against Bucknell and Princeton. The Patriot League (Bucknell) and the Ivy League (Princeton) decided not to play football this fall.

Buddie said he and Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk are committed to playing the Army-Navy game this fall.

 “Competing in athletics is tightly woven into the fabric of the Academy’s mission. It supports the 47-month cadet experience necessary to prepare our cadet-athletes for officership in the United States Army,” Buddie said. “Unlike at other institutions, our cadets cannot retain extra years of eligibility. I will do everything within my power to ensure they get the opportunity to play.”

Navy and Tulsa are members of the American Athletic Conference. Army has three games – Miami (Ohio), Buffalo and Eastern Michigan – from the Mid-America Conference this year, which also has not announced scheduling adjustments.