Getty The future of the 2020 March Madness tournament remains in doubt.
March Madness Bracket Projections as Coronavirus Interrupts Entire Sports World
On Wednesday (Mar. 10th), the NCAA announced that March Madness would be played without fans. On Thursday, every college basketball conference canceled its league tournament. Now, the NCAA Tournament as a whole looks to be in jeopardy.
Selection Sunday is supposed to be in two days’ time (March. 15th). Whether the Selection Committee goes through the process of putting together a 68-team field remains to be seen. If they do, then odds will be set, pundits will weigh-in, and will go on as planned.
If they don’t, we will be in a brave new world and no one really knows what will transpire.
What concerns me about no fans at sporting events,they still have to go to work,” he said while on the NCAA’s March Madness conference call on Tuesday.
“They still have to be walking around in the world. They don’t go to a sports venue, but they still have to live their lives.”
“Unfortunately some people have passed away and some people are sick but you can’t stop living your life,” Barkley said Tuesday on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
“I’m like, okay, if they don’t come to games, are they not going to live their lives,” said Barkley.
“Are they not going to go to work? Are they not going to go out and have dinner and things like that?” asked Barkley. “Just not coming to a basketball game, I don’t think that’s going to solve all the issues.”
Assuming the Selection Committee does gather to put together a bracket, here’s what we know about how the field will look.
Who Gets into the March Madness Field with Conference Tournaments Cancelled?
The following teams already qualified for the tournament before the shutdown:
Belmont Bruins: Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions
Bradley Braves: Missouri Valley Conference tournament champions
Boston Terriers: Patriot League tournament champions
East Tennessee State Buccaneers: Southern Conference tournament champions
Gonzaga Bulldogs: West Coast Conference tournament champions
Hofstra Pride: Colonial Conference tournament champions
Liberty Flames: Atlantic Sun tournament champions
North Dakota State Bison: Summit League tournament champions
Northern Kentucky Norse: Horizon League tournament champions
Robert Morris Colonials: Northeast Conference tournament champions
Utah State Aggies: Mountain West tournament champions
Winthrop Eagles: Big South tournament champions
Yale Bulldogs: Ivy League regular-season champions
With the remainder of the conference tournaments canceled, it is likely that the following regular-season champions will receive the remaining automatic bids into the tournament.
ACC: Florida State Seminoles
America East: Vermont Catamounts
Atlantic 10: Dayton Flyers
Big 12: Kansas Jayhawks
Big Sky: Eastern Washington Eagles