SEC cancels men’s basketball tournament, all regular season events until late March
The SEC men’s basketball tournament has been canceled due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference also announced that all SEC regular season events, as well SEC championship events, are canceled until March 30.
“Based on the latest developments and the continued spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Southeastern Conference today announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville,” the SEC announced.
“We understand that this decision will be disappointing to our student-athletes and coaches who have been preparing all season to compete in this event as well as viewers at home,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a press release. “While this was not an easy decision, the health and well-being of our entire SEC community is of paramount importance.”
The SEC’s regular season champion, Kentucky, will be awarded the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The cancellation marks the first time the SEC will finish without a postseason conference tournament champion since 1979.
Auburn, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, was scheduled to play the winner of No. 10 seed Missouri and No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Friday in the quarterfinals.
Thirteenth-seeded Georgia was scheduled to face No. 5 seed Florida on Thursday after beating No. 12 seed Ole Miss Wednesday.
The Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12 and AAC canceled their respective tournaments Thursday.
The NCAA Tournament is still scheduled to be played, without fans.
It’s unclear whether the March 30 date affects Auburn’s spring football schedule. A source close to the situation confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer that the coaches were meeting today and that spring practice is currently listed as “TBD.”
Auburn announced Thursday that the university will transition from on-campus instruction to remote delivery beginning March 16 and continue through April 10 in response to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. All university events, including sporting events, are canceled through April 10, ensuring appropriate “social distancing” and helping prevent the potential spread of the virus.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 12:02 PM.
