Most college conferences cancel their basketball tournaments amid the COVID-19 outbreak
Posted at 8:55 AM, Mar 12, 2020
According to the NCAA website, all but one Division I conference that have not yet completed their men's conference basketball tournaments have canceled all remaining games.
Only the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference plans to hold the remaining games of their conference tournaments as of 2:15 p.m. ET Thursday.
Among the conferences that announced tournamenot cancellations are the American Athletic Conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten, the Big 12, Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, the Pac-12 Conference, the Southeastern Conference, the Southland Conference and the Western Athletic Conference.
The Atlantic 10 conference canceled its tournament as players warmed up for the opening tIp for the first game, according to video on social media.
The Big East tournament began play Thursday morning, but canceled the remainder of its tournament after a game between St. John's and Creighton reached halftime.
In addition, media reports indicate that the Big 12 planned to announce tournament cancellations Thursday, but the conference had not yet issued official confirmation.
In addition to canceling its basketball conference tournament, the SEC also announced it was suspending competition in all sports for all of its member schools until March 30. Duke University made a similar announcement, saying it was suspending all athletic competitions and practices.
The conferences follow in the footsteps of the Ivy League, which canceled its conference tournament earlier this week.
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