No March Madness: NCAA Cancels Men's And Women's Basketball Tournaments
The NCAA has announced that it is canceling its Division I men's and women's college basketball tournaments. This year, there will be no March Madness.
Updated at 5:24 p.m. ET
"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 said in a statement Thursday.
The decision followed earlier declarations by Duke and Kansas that they were suspending all athletic competitions indefinitely.
The NCAA had previously announced that the basketball tournaments would take place only in front of essential staff and limited family members — no crowds.
Announcements from across the American sports landscape fell on sports fans on Thursday: Most everything is canceled or at least postponed.
Major League Baseball halted spring training and delayed the start of the regular season for two weeks. The National Hockey League put its season on ice for 30 days. Major League Soccer won't play for the next month.
And the NBA announced Wednesday night that it has called off the entire rest of its season, after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The game was called off moments before tip-off as word came in about Gobert's test result. The entire team, as well as some staff members and beat reporters were then tested for the virus — a second Jazz player, Donovan Mitchell, tested positive.
Four teams that recently played the Jazz — the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors — said that they have some players and staff in quarantine. [Copyright 2020 NPR]
