By Lauren Kirschman

The News Tribune

For the first time in 82 years, there will be no NCAA Tournament.

In an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the men’s and women’s tournaments were canceled on Thursday afternoon, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors announced. All remaining winter and spring NCAA championships were also canceled.

“The decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to the spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given the ongoing decisions by other entities,” the statement read.

The men’s NCAA Tournament had been held every year since 1939 while the women’s tournament had been a staple since 1982. The cancellation announcement followed a hectic Wednesday where the sports world and COVID-19 collided.

Conferences decided Wednesday to play the remainder of their basketball tournaments without fans. But by Thursday morning, college basketball’s biggest conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 — canceled their tournaments. The remaining conferences soon followed.

On Wednesday, the NCAA also said tournament games would continue as scheduled, but in mostly empty arenas. That plan was altered as other sports leagues were forced to take action. The NBA season was suspended on Wednesday night after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. By morning, the NHL season had also been suspended. MLB announced Thursday afternoon it would suspend spring training games and delay the beginning of the regular season at least two weeks.

And then, the final domino fell.

Thursday should have been one of the busiest days of the college basketball calendar with teams vying for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The men’s bracket would have been revealed on Sunday with the women’s following on Monday, all leading to a jam-packed weekend of championship college basket. Instead, the arenas — and televisions across the country — will be silent.

The men’s tournament generates nearly a billion dollars in revenue each year for the NCAA as well as its member universities and colleges.

Even before the NCAA made its announcement, Duke and Kansas suspended all athletic competitions. Penn State and USC suspended football spring training. Washington later suspended “all athletic-related activities and events, including workouts, training and practices” until at least March 30, at which time they will reassess.