This wasn’t always inevitable, but it became inevitable on Wednesday afternoon.
As soon as the NCAA declared that the NCAA Tournament would be played without fans in attendance at arenas, it was only a matter of time before the various conferences made the same decision about their conference tournaments.
The 2020 Big Ten Tournament began on Wednesday in Indianapolis with fans attending the two first-round games. Minnesota played Northwestern in the first game, and Indiana and Nebraska — at press time — have yet to start the second game, which is slated for a 7:25 p.m. Central time tip.
Those will be the last Big Ten Tournament games fans can attend.
The Big Ten released a statement on Wednesday to address the growing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic:
The Big Ten Conference announced this evening that beginning Thursday, March 12, 2020, attendance at all Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament games will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.
Additionally, all further Big Ten Conference winter and spring sport competitions, including championship/tournament events, will also be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.
The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus on a daily basis.
It is important that any person attending a Big Ten sporting event consult the following guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html.
At 7:37 Eastern time on Wednesday, a quick check of some of the other Twitter feeds of Power Five conferences indicates that conference tournaments have not yet prohibited fans from attending. The Pac-12 and SEC Tournaments began Wednesday, and at 7:37, neither had made an announcement about prohibiting fans from attending future games on Thursday and beyond. The ACC Tournament began Tuesday. It had not yet offered a plan at 7:37 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Big 12, however, had presented a limited-access plan shortly after 7 Eastern on Wednesday:
Announcement:
Beginning with tomorrow's tournament games, we will be implementing limited access. Teams will have access to 125 tickets for staff and guests of student-athletes.
For the full announcement and more details ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/8W7h565eGn
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 11, 2020
The Big Ten Tournament will continue as scheduled, with coverage provided by Big Ten Network through Friday (quarterfinals) and CBS on the weekend (Saturday semifinals, Sunday championship game).