Just about everyone saw this coming, but the NCAA has officially canceled the 2020 men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In a press statement sent Thursday afternoon, officials with the NCAA said the decision was made “to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic.” Of course, this includes the opening round games scheduled to take place on March 19 and 21 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.
Today’s decision comes just a day after all spectators were banned from attending the March Madness games. However, things changed dramatically once several NBA players tested positive for COVID-19.
Read the full statement below:
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.
For a full list of events cancelled due to the coronavirus, click here.
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This article appears in Mar 12-19, 2020.