NCAA Tournament to be played without fans

NCAA Tournament games will not be open to the general public because of concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said Wednesday he made the decision to conduct the men’s and women’s tournaments, which begin next week, with only essential staff and limited family in attendance. The decision comes after the NCAA’s covid-19 advisory panel of medical experts recommended against playing sporting events open to the general public.

Emmert told the Associated Press canceling the tournament was considered.

“The decision was based on a combination of the information provided by national and state officials, by the advisory team that we put together of medical experts from across the country, and looking at what was going to be in the best interest of our student-athletes, of course,” Emmert said by phone.

“But also the public health implications of all of this. We recognize our tournaments bring people from all around the country together. They’re not just regional events. They’re big national events. It’s a very, very hard decision for all the obvious reasons.”

Emmert said the NCAA also was looking into moving the men’s Final Four from Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium to a smaller arena. The NCAA will consider using smaller venues for regional sites scheduled to be played at the Toyota Center in Houston; Madison Square Garden in New York; Staples Center in Los Angeles and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The decision applies to more than men’s and women’s basketball. All NCAA-sponsored championships including hockey’s Frozen Four will be affected.

The 68-team field for the men’s basketball tournament is scheduled to be announced Sunday, and the 64-team women’s tournament field is to be unveiled Monday. Games begin Tuesday and Wednesday on the men’s side in Dayton, Ohio, where earlier Wednesday the governor said he would issue an order to restrict spectator access to indoor sporting events.

The Robert Morris men clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, and the RMU women are hosting the Northeast Conference Tournament starting Thursday. The school announced Wednesday afternoon it will admit only “essential staff, media and family attendance” for the remainder of the women’s tournament.

The Penn State and West Virginia men also are in the mix for bids.

The Big Ten said Wednesday it would not allow fans at its conference tournament in Indianapolis beginning Thursday. The tournament opened with two games Wednesday in front of fans, but the change was made after the NCAA’s announcement. Penn State begins play Thursday night.

The Atlantic 10, ACC and Big 12 followed suit, barring fans from their tournaments beginning Thursday after allowing them earlier this week.

Duquesne plays Fordham in the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Pitt was eliminated from the ACC Tournament on Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C.

West Virginia meets Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday night in Kansas City.

The Mid-American Conference on Tuesday announced it was closing its men’s and women’s basketball tournament games at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and scheduled site of the men’s NCAA games, to the general public. The women’s tournament started Wednesday.

The Big West Conference announced a similar move, not allowing the general public into its games this week at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

March Madness hits another level next week with the start of the NCAA Tournament, one of the most popular events on the American sports calendar.

There are eight first- and second-round sites for the men’s tournament, scheduled for March 19-22. Locations include Cleveland; Spokane, Wash.; Albany, N.Y.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Omaha, Neb. The four regional sites for the second weekend of the tournament are Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Houston and New York. The Final Four is in Atlanta, with the semifinals April 4 and the championship game April 6.

The women’s tournament first- and second-round games begin March 21 and will be at 16 sites, mostly on or close to the campuses of the top-seeded teams. The regionals will be in Dallas; Greenville, S.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Fort Wayne, Ind. The Final Four will be April 3 and 5 in New Orleans.