Novig pricesFAA ground stop strands Minnesota and Washington, sends Purdue to Iowa by bus
A nationwide FAA ground stop left Minnesota and Washington waiting to fly Friday, while Purdue switched to buses for its trip to Iowa.
Friday's nationwide FAA ground stop hit three Big Ten road teams the day before kickoff. ESPN reported that Minnesota and Washington were among nine Power 4 programs still waiting to leave for Saturday's games after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights. The cause was a communications failure at the regional air traffic control centers that route planes between airports.
Minnesota plays at Penn State on Saturday and Washington plays at Michigan State. As of ESPN's Friday evening report, neither team had left. Purdue didn't wait it out. ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Pete Thamel reported, citing sources, that the Boilermakers dropped their delayed charter to Iowa City and went by bus. The drive from West Lafayette is long but manageable, and it put Purdue on the road while other teams sat on the tarmac.
One worry around the league was settled early. A Big Ten spokesman told ESPN that officials for all eight of the conference's Saturday games were already on site, so no Big Ten crew will be scrambling to get there. Elsewhere it is less certain. Some officials assigned to ACC games were grounded, and Arizona State got off its plane, went home to rest and planned to fly to Orlando on Saturday morning to play UCF. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said FAA technicians were looking into a telecommunications outage. ESPN noted it was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023.
What it means for Saturday
The biggest concern is Minnesota at Penn State on FS1. The Gophers are 5-4 and have lost two in a row, 23-16 at No. 4 Indiana and 34-20 to No. 8 UCLA. Now their preparation for a hostile road game has been thrown off. Penn State is favored by a wide margin on this site's board. Novig has the Nittany Lions at -400 on the moneyline and -11.5 at +104. Across the 12 venues, the best Penn State spread is Hard Rock Bet's -10.5 at -110, and BetRivers gives Minnesota +12.5 at -122, so the books are about two points apart on this game. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.3% to 6.7% on the spread.
Washington, also 5-4, is the closer call at Michigan State on BTN. The Huskies won at Nebraska and at Purdue before losing 28-25 to Penn State. Washington is a slim favorite on the game page: -127 on the moneyline and -2.5 at -108 on Novig. The total is 44.5 on Novig and 43.5 at BetRivers.
Purdue may have solved its travel problem, but the game itself is a tough one. The Boilermakers are 3-6, have lost three straight and fell 34-29 to Maryland last week. They play at No. 15 Iowa (7-2) on NBC, and the Hawkeyes held Wisconsin and Northwestern to 10 points combined in their last two games. Iowa is favored by 17.5 at -102 on Novig and -809 on the moneyline, and BetMGM lists Iowa at -17. The full board is on the Purdue-Iowa page.
If the ground stop lifts soon, Minnesota and Washington still get in Friday night. Every hour it lasts takes time out of a routine that road teams normally keep to the minute.