ACC, SEC, Big Ten among conferences to cancel basketball tournaments due to coronavirus
The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference are among the conferences that canceled their postseason basketball tournaments Thursday amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The SEC said that “based on the latest developments and the continued spread of the coronavirus, the Southeastern Conference today announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville.”
“We understand that this decision will be disappointing to our student-athletes and coaches who have been preparing all season to compete in this event as well as viewers at home,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “While this was not an easy decision, the health and well-being of our entire SEC community is of paramount importance.”
The University of Kentucky, which won the conference’s regular-season title, has been awarded the SEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the SEC stated.
Florida State will receive the ACC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament because it was the No. 1 seed, the conference said.
“Following additional consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors, and in light of the continued conversations surrounding the fluidity of COVID-19, the Athletic Coast Conference will immediately cancel the remainder of the 2020 ACC Tournament,” the conference said.
The Big Ten also announced its tournament cancellation by stating the conference “will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The American Athletic Conference also canceled its tournament.
“The decision was made in consultation with the Conference’s leadership in light of recent developments regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus,” the conference said in a statement.
The Big 12 Conference canceled its conference tournaments around the same time as other conferences throughout the country did the same. Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he expects the NCAA to cancel its tournament.
“I feel terrible for the seniors that are involved in this tournament,” Bowlsby said. “I feel particularly bad for the players ... in the interest in heeding the advice we were hearing ... cancellation was the right outcome.”
The Pac-12 Conference said its decision to cancel was “made in consultation with our member universities in an effort to limit the spread of the virus and in the interest of the health and safety of our student-athletes, campus personnel, working and event personnel, and all those who attend Pac-12 events.”
Conference tournaments for the Atlantic 10, Colonial, Conference USA, MAC, Sun Belt and WAC have been canceled as well, according to media reports.
A game between St. John’s and Creighton in the Big East Tournament tipped off at noon ET on Thursday, then was called off at halftime as the Big East joined other conferences in canceling its tournament.
The NCAA made the decision Wednesday to have the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments without spectators.
The Ivy League was the first conference to cancel its postseason tournament, doing so Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 11:07 AM with the headline "ACC, SEC, Big Ten among conferences to cancel basketball tournaments due to coronavirus."