It just seemed like this was the path everything was going. At first the Big Ten sent an announcement early Wednesday morning that the men’s basketball tournament would go on as planned with regular fan attendance. That then changed after the NCAA announced very limited attendance for all of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Following that announcement by the governing body of big-time college athletics, the Big Ten sent out another statement falling in line with the NCAA’s path of going forward but with no fan attendance.
Now this. As of this morning, the Big Ten has formally announced the cancelation of the remainder of the men’s basketball tournament, one day after playing the first round that included two games between Minnesota and Northwestern, and Indiana and Nebraska.
Here is the complete statement from the Big Ten Conference.
The Big Ten Conference announced today that it will be canceling the remainder of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, effective immediately.
The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus
The Big Ten Tournament has been cancelled.
The conference issued the following statement Thursday morning: pic.twitter.com/EOAxKsmmx1
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 12, 2020
So now we wait to see if the NCAA Tournament follows suit or if there will be a basketball championship moving forward.
We’ll stay on top of any further news as it becomes available.