Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below.
Duke and Virginia were forced to withdraw from the men’s Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball tournament on consecutive days and Kansas pulled out of the Big 12 tournament because of positive tests, raising concerns about the protocols for COVID-19 and how they will impact the playing of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.
As more teams continue to experience problems with outbreaks, it is becoming clear that the possibility of the pandemic affecting the tournaments remains high. Rules and protocols were issued by the NCAA last month.
The men’s tournament has 68 teams and the women’s has 64.
Some of the key questions ahead of next week’s events: