Saturday’s first-round game between Oregon No. 7 and VCU No. 10 has been declared non-contested due to VCU program COVID-19 protocols, the NCAA announced.
Oregon automatically moves to the second round.
“The NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee has stated that the VCU-Oregon game scheduled for Saturday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum is a non-contest due to COVID-19 protocols,” the statement said. the NCAA. “This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department.
“As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament. The NCAA and the committee regret that student-athletes and VCU technical staff are unable to play in a tournament in which they won the right to participate. privacy issues we cannot provide further details “.
This is the first game in the NCAA tournament canceled or declared a non-contest due to COVID-19 problems. The NCAA set a deadline Tuesday night for replacement teams to enter the field; no team had problems at the time.
To enter the controlled environment of the NCAA tournament in Indianapolis, teams had to show seven consecutive days of negative testing of COVID-19. Once in Indianapolis, teams undergo daily testing.
NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said before the NCAA tournament that a team can continue to play in the tournament as long as it has five “eligible and healthy” players. It was expected that tracking NCAA tournament contacts and other COVID-19 protocols would prevent a team from withdrawing due to one or two positive tests.
“This is tremendously disappointing and heartbreaking for the student-athletes who have worked so hard for this opportunity,” Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade said in a statement. “During this pandemic, medical advisory boards have the authority to make this decision for the safety and well-being of all student-athletes, staff and teams.
“VCU has had an exceptional year and this setback does not diminish any of its successes.”
Oregon will play the winner of Iowa Grand Canyon No. 2 against Grand Canyon No. 15.