Women’s tourney at one location
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
UConn coach Geno Auriemmawasn’tsurprisedthat the NCAA women’s basketball tournamentwillbeplayedinone geographical area.
It just makes the most sense. The NCAA announced Monday that San Antonio is the likely host site for the 64-team tournament next March. The move was made to help mitigate the risks of COVID-19 and matches that of the men’s tournament, which the NCAA said last month will also be played in a single area — most likely Indianapolis.
“If you’re in one place there’s onesetofprotocolsfortheentire state. that’s one positive to it,’ said Auriemma, whose team has been to every Final Four since 2008. “Trying to get 64 teams from all over the country to fly to all those places and deal with all the protocols involved everywhere,itmademoresense I’m sure to bring in everyone to Texas.”
San Antonio was already the site of the 2021 Final Four. The NCAAhasnowbeguntalkswith the city on hosting the whole thingandtheorganizationhopes tohaveplansfinalizedbytheend of January. It is likely that the NCAA could play games as far away as Austin because of the needforhotelsaswellaspractice and gamevenues for 64teams.
The first two rounds of the women’stournamenthavebeen played on campus sites the last few seasons with the top four seeds in each region hosting. The regionals were slated to be playedthisseasoninAlbany,N.Y., Austin, Texas, Cincinnati and Spokane, Wash.
“Bymakingthisdifficultdecision now, it allows for an earlier opportunitytoworkproactively with local public health officials within the host communities and ensures that the identified guidelines and protocols are consideredforamorecontrolled environment,” said Nina King, the NCAA women’s basketball committee chair and senior athletic director at Duke.
The NCAA expects the tournament to be played in late March and early April as usual, though there’s a chance it could be shorter.