The NCAA Tournament was officially canceled Thursday afternoon due to the spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19.
What’s going on:
The NCAA issued a statement that canceled both the women’s and men’s basketball tournaments.
The statement said:
“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.”
Additional context:
- Other conferences — the Big Ten, Big 12, the Southeastern Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Pac-12 — canceled their tournaments as well.
- Duke and Kansas announced they were canceling all athletic competitions for the time being, too.
- The NCAA ruling comes after the NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS suspended their respective seasons.
Social media reacted to the NCAA Tournament news: