NCAA cancels March Madness, Big Ten ends winter, spring seasons
The NCAA announced the cancelation of the men's and women's basketball tournaments shortly before the Big Ten announced an end to the 2019-20 seasons for winter and spring programs.
The NCAA has canceled the postseason basketball tournaments for both men and women, effectively ending both seasons, it announced via a statement Thursday evening. Shortly after the announcement, the Big Ten released a statement declaring an end to all conference and non-conference competition for the winter and spring seasonal programs.
Indiana later complied with the Big Ten's initiative in a later statement.
"Indiana University Athletics will continue to work with the Big Ten Conference, the NCAA, the Indiana University Athletics Medical Advisory Group and campus partners in monitoring and responding to the coronavirus situation," IU Athletics said via press release. "The department's top priority remains the health, safety and security of our students, coaches, staff and fans, and that will guide our decision-making process moving forward."
The announcements come after all conferences canceled their respective basketball tournaments, the Big Ten's coming after the first round Wednesday. A flurry of other cancelations followed, including all SEC events during the month of March, MLB spring training and a two-week delay on Opening Day and, most notably, the NBA season suspension Wednesday night.
Duke and Kansas had both indefinitely suspended their spring sports programs, which all but eliminated them from March Madness participation, and multiple reports suggested the NCAA might make a decision on the tournament Friday. But NCAA president Mark Emmert pulled the plug a day early.
The Big Ten's announcement comes following signs that seemed to lead nowhere but this end, as states had begun to ban the gathering of large groups, typically over the size of 100 people, and non-essential travel has been discouraged nationwide, with massive outbreaks in Washington state, New York City and the Bay Area.
Overseas, Italy has all but halted commercial activity and has ended most of its sporting seasons as well.
Included in the Big Ten stoppage of play is a moratorium on on- and off-campus recruiting in all sports "for the foreseeable future."
It's unclear exactly where the Big Ten and NCAA go from here, but there won't be anymore sports played during the 2019-20 academic year.
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