Positive COVID-19 tests derail Kansas, Virginia tourney runs
A year to the day after COVID-19 brought the college basketball postseason to a halt, the pandemic continues to disrupt the sport, with three premier programs forced to abandon their conference tournaments because of positive coronavirus tests.
No. 16 Virginia — the most recent national champion — and No. 11 Kansas were forced out of the semifinals of their tournaments on Friday, a day after Duke also dropped out, ending a disappointing season for coach Mike Krzyzewski’s storied program.
There’s no guarantee that Kansas or Virginia will be back for the NCAA Tournament, potentially depriving the sport’s annual showcase of two title contenders as well as the five-time national champion Blue Devils, who were unlikely to make this year’s field.
Although the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 tournaments continued without the virus-affected schools, Friday’s developments were an eerie reminder of of March 12, 2020, when both leagues ended their tournaments as teams were warming up for the first of a full day’s worth of games. That day turned out to be the end of the college basketball season.
The ACC announced the positive test and subsequent contact tracing and quarantining in Virginia’s program less than 12 hours before the Cavaliers were set to play Georgia Tech in the first of two semifinal games. The Yellow Jackets
advanced to the finals, where they await the winner of the North CarolinaFlorida State matchup.
Hours later, Kansas announced its withdrawal from the Big 12 Tournament, leading to the cancellation of its semifinal matchup with No. 13 Texas. The Longhorns will play either No. 2 Baylor or No. 12 Oklahoma State for the title. The Jayhawks said in a statement they would continue preparing for the NCAA Tournament, which starts Thursday.
Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett described the outcome of the tests as a “gut punch.”
“I’m hurting for our players, especially our seniors,” Bennett said in a statement. “I told our young men they have every reason to be disappointed,
but it is still very important how they choose to respond. We are exhausting all options to participate in the NCAA Tournament.”
Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said in the statement the school was “in communication with the appropriate officials regarding our participation” in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke withdrew from the ACC Tournament and ended its season amid its own positive test before facing the 15th-ranked Seminoles in the quarterfinals.
The Jayhawks learned earlier this week they would be without center David McCormack and backup forward Tristan Enaruna due to COVID-19 protocols. They beat No. 25 Oklahoma 69-62 in the quarterfinals without
them, and had gone the entire season without an outbreak that forced a cancellation or postponement.
“Obviously we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that they can’t continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” coach Bill Self said in a statement. “While we have been fortunate to avoid this throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that everybody participating is trying to avoid.
“We have followed the daily testing and additional protocols that have been setup for us, unfortunately we caught a bad break at the wrong time. I look forward to preparing my team in probably a unique way for next week’s NCAA Tournament.”
Let’s be honest, it was a down few years for Hendrick Motorsports.
Jeff Gordon won just once in his final season back in 2015, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson weren’t exactly lighting it up during their final laps in 2017 and 2020.
Besides Alex Bowman’s two wins over the past two seasons, Chase Elliott had been the only Hendrick driver to win since Kasey Kahne’s surprise win at The Brickyard ... in 2017.
The once dominant organization had been stuck in limbo for the past few years, with three legends leaving thesport(andKahne!),and an influx of new, young talent still trying to find their own way. After Kyle Larson’s win Sunday at Las Vegas, it appears the makeover is complete.
Don’t look now, but the dynasty ain’t dead yet!
First gear
Can’t dive any further into Hendrick talk without first starting with Larson.
The 28-year-old completed his comeback story with a dominant showing at Vegas, leading 106 laps and cruising to his first win since Dover in 2019.
The win also came nearly one year after Larson was suspended by NASCAR, and released by Chip Ganassi Racing, for using a racial slur during an iRacing event. Larson signed with Hendrick last fall, and was officially reinstated by NASCAR on Jan. 1. The California native took over the No. 5 car, which is prepped by Jimmie Johnson’s old No. 48 team and crew chief Cliff Daniels.
Second gear
Now, back to the
Hendrick
Dating back to Chase Elliott’s win last October on the Charlotte Roval, HMS has won five of the past nine Cup races, and, of course, last year’s championship.
The organization has now won backto-back races with two different drivers for the first time since 2015 (Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson), and features four drivers all under the age of 29.
Bottom line? This may just be the beginning.
Third gear
With Larson’s win, Hendrick Motorsports (265 wins) is now just three wins away from tying Petty Enterprises for most in NASCAR history. Larson also became the 20th driver to win for HMS, the most of any team.
Jeff Gordon leads the way with 93 wins, followed by Jimmie Johnson (83), Terry Labonte (12) and Elliott, who has 11.
Other fun names on the list include Tim Richmond (9), Mark Martin (6), and Front Row Joe Nemechek, who won at Richmond in 2003 in the HMS No. 25 machine.
Fourth gear
Now to the other end of the spectrum through four races ...
What in the world Stewart-Haas Racing?
Kevin Harvick started on the pole Sunday but had an awful afternoon, finishing 20th and failing to lead even one lap.
Cole Custer finished 25th, while rookie Chase Briscoe finished 21st.
Aric Almirola, meanwhile, finished last after hitting the wall midway through the last stage.
Through the first month of the season, SHR has led a total of 20 laps. All but three of those are from Harvick.
Yikes. is going on with