The NCAA has decided not to release a March Madness bracket for the 2020 men's and women's basketball tournaments that were canceled due to the coronavirus, the Washington Examiner reported.
"The important work of the basketball committees is to set up competitively-balanced brackets to determine national champions," NCAA vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement. "I don't believe it's responsible or fair to do that with incomplete seasons - especially for tournaments that unfortunately won't be played. Therefore, there will not be any NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball championship selection shows or tournament brackets released this year."
CBS Sports pointed out that Gavitt's decision was made on what was supposed to be the much-anticipated Selection Sunday but instead has now become the official end of the college basketball season.
There had been pressure on Gavitt to at least release a bracket to conclude the incomplete season with some recognition for the teams, but only 13 of the 32 conferences concluded their tournaments that determine an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, further complicating any effort to create a bracket, according to the Examiner.
"Players and coaches want to see their school name on the bracket," Gavitt said. "Members of the media want to dissect match-ups... All of us want something to fill the void we're feeling. However, anything less than a credible process is inconsistent with the tradition of the NCAA basketball championships."
Before canceling the tournament, the NCAA had been considering a scaled down 16-team competition to take place over five days, but ultimately determined it wasn't possible to hold any version of the March Madness tournament this year, the New York Post reported.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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