Consider the NCAA the masters of saying something, yet saying nothing at the same time.
With the outbreak of COVID-19 or Coronavirus as the world has been calling it, the rumors and thoughts that the NCAA Tournament might be played in an empty stadium. Many, myself included, downplayed initial reports of this a week or so ago but in their statement released Tuesday afternoon, the NCAA was entirely non-committal to the games having or not having crowds.
The NCAA continues to assess how COVID-19 impacts the conduct of our tournaments and events. We are consulting with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel, who are leading experts in epidemiology and public health, and will make decisions in the coming days. – NCAA on March 10, 2020
So what the heck does that mean?
I interpret it as anything and everything is on the table. The world and country are in a state of panic and nobody has any interest in being liable for a stadium full of fans being exposed to the virus. It will certainly be interesting to see how all of this goes, especially after the ACC Tournament has already begun in Greensboro, North Carolina with no plan whatsoever to keep fans from the games while most of the other power conferences get their tournaments started Wednesday.
Stay tuned, this story isn’t going away and is only going to get bigger in the coming days and probably weeks.