SEC cancels men’s basketball tournament after originally limiting access to fans
The remainder of the SEC men’s basketbal tournament is canceled because of growing concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the conference announced Thursday.
Originally, the Southeastern Conference — much like other conferences around the country — said the tournament would be played in front of no fans from the public. But that changed after the NBA and Major League Soccer suspended their seasons.
Along with the men’s basketball tournament in Nashville, the SEC also suspended all regular season competition and championship events on campuses. Much like the tourney, there were plans to restrict fan attendance at those games, but those games were also suspended as well through March 30.
Late Wednesday evening, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said there were preliminary talks of canceling the tournament, though he said the conference was not at that point yet.
The first round of the SEC Tournament was played without any restrictions Wednesday. Arkansas defeated Vanderbilt while Georgia defeated Ole Miss with fans at Bridgestone Arena.
Mizzou was originally set to play Texas A&M at 6 p.m. Thursday in the second round.
As for spring football, a Mizzou spokesperson said there were no changes in the practice schedule, though there could be changes in the near future. Mizzou finished its third of 15 allotted spring practices on Wednesday.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 11:15 AM.