COVID-19 sends VCU back home
Keeping an eye on the NCAA men’s basketball tournament
VCU has been pulled from the NCAA Tournament because of COVID-19 protocols.
The NCAA says the 10th-seeded Rams’ firstround game Saturday against seventh-seeded Oregon has been declared a no-contest.
The Ducks will advance to the second round without playing.
The announcement came a little more than three hours before the teams were set to play in the West Region. The NCAA didn’t offer specific details, citing privacy concerns, and said that the decision came after consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department.
“The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate,” the statement read. “This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department.
“As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament. The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues we cannot provide further details.”
This is the first NCAA tournament game canceled or declared a no-contest due to COVID-19 issues.
The NCAA made Tuesday night its deadline for replacement teams to enter the field; no teams had issues at that time.
In order to get into the NCAA tournament’s controlled environment in Indianapolis, teams had to show seven consecutive days of negative COVID19 tests.
Once in Indianapolis, teams undergo daily testing.
NCAA senior VP of basketball Dan Gavitt said prior to the NCAA tournament that a team can continue playing in the tournament as long as it has five “eligible and healthy” players.
The NCAA tournament’s contact tracing and other COVID-19 protocols were expected to prevent a team needing to withdraw due to one or two positive tests.