The NCAA has canceled both the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The Tournament was originally set to go on without fans in attendance, however, as conferences continued to cancel their own postseason tournaments while Duke and Kansas both outright said they would not be participating in March Madness it seemed it was just a matter of time before the Tournament was called off in its entirety.
Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.
The NCAA is the latest major cancelation in sports. The NHL, MLB, and MLS all suspended games due to COVID-19 following the NBA which made their own announcement to call off the season indefinitely last night. In light of Major League Baseball’s announcement, opening day will be pushed back at least two weeks. NASCAR has decided to go on but without fans in attendance as lower-level pro soccer leagues like the USL and NISA have also opted to suspend games for the time being.
