# How should the NCAA be handling the the basketball tournament and the coronavirus? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271 "2020-03-11T15:05:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/41 "2020-03-12T20:21:39Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > The tournament has been cancelled. Where are you seeing this? ETA: Just saw a headline on CNN, but no story. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/42 "2020-03-12T20:33:53Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Where are you seeing this? > > ETA: Just saw a headline on CNN, but no story. Reported on TSN in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/43 "2020-03-12T20:49:26Z")
Wow. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/44 "2020-03-12T20:57:32Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > I really don’t get why the spring training games today are still going on. I know the early starts were before the announcement came out, but as one reporter wrote, “if they can cancel games for rain…”. The fans paid their money, parking, etc. May as well let them enjoy the game. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/45 "2020-03-12T21:01:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Hey, Indian Wells must be hugely popular and it was cancelled. I couldn’t believe it. That’s the thing: it was cancelled BECAUSE it was popular. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/46 "2020-03-12T21:17:03Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Play the games in empty arenas, or cancel them. > > That’s what all spectator sports should be doing right now. The more social distancing we do now, the less of a disaster May and June will be. This seemed like a pretty radical thing to say yesterday morning, but _damn_ - thirty hours later, they’ve all done it. it’s like half the country suddenly woke up about this in the past day and a half. Holy fucking shit. Maryland just closed its K-12 public schools for 2 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/47 "2020-03-12T21:58:42Z")
Well shoot, I guess I won’t be running a tournament pool this year. Maybe we can do an online game of Pandemic instead? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/48 "2020-03-12T22:00:07Z")
What the Hell is ESPN going to do? after about 5 days of interviewing doctors eventually useless sports figures do we get a month of Wide World of Sports archive diving? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/49 "2020-03-12T23:19:12Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > What the Hell is ESPN going to do? after about 5 days of interviewing doctors eventually useless sports figures do we get a month of Wide World of Sports archive diving? I, for one, would be looking forward to Motorcycles On Ice racing and Acapulco cliff-diving from the 1970s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/50 "2020-03-12T23:28:36Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > What the Hell is ESPN going to do? after about 5 days of interviewing doctors eventually useless sports figures do we get a month of Wide World of Sports archive diving? Best of Stephen A Smith? That will get them at least 15 minutes… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/51 "2020-03-13T00:46:48Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Best of Stephen A Smith? That will get them at least 15 minutes… 15 minutes of silence. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/52 "2020-03-15T16:07:40Z")
NBC showed golf yesterday and there was nothing on the screen to indicate it was a rerun. Were they trying to fool people or did they assume we all knew it was a rerun? Remember NBC likes to pretend some taped Olympics are live by saying things like “now out to the stadium” CBS showed college BB and they had a graphic saying it was a 2019 game. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/53 "2020-03-15T16:40:29Z")
Is anyone else enjoying a bit of Schadenfreude that many states have finally started to get their sports gambling together, just in time for the sports world to completely shut down? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/54 "2020-03-15T18:47:00Z")
dup post ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/55 "2020-03-15T18:45:32Z")
I don’t care if people gamble on sports. Almost every state has a lottery now anyway. At least with legal gambling the state gets a cut. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/56 "2020-03-15T19:11:13Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I don’t care if people gamble on sports. Almost every state has a lottery now anyway. At least with legal gambling the state gets a cut. I’m fine with it too, although my sports gambling is limited to a pitcher of beer or perhaps a few bucks when I’m in Vegas. But I know someone who got beaten up for not paying gambling debts from some bookie ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/57 "2020-03-15T20:47:08Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’m fine with it too, although my sports gambling is limited to a pitcher of beer or perhaps a few bucks when I’m in Vegas. But I know someone who got beaten up for not paying gambling debts from some bookie I’m not an expert on the subject, but I can’t help admitting that I have serious doubts about a bookie administering beatings as one feature of **legal** sports gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/58 "2020-03-15T20:53:33Z")
In Vegas, they aim to deliver the **complete** sports betting experience! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/59 "2020-03-15T20:59:55Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > In Vegas, they aim to deliver the **complete** sports betting experience! I’m in Vegas right now on vacation (the flight here was 2/3 empty, so trippy, some people had whole rows to themselves). I’ll keep this in mind. 🙂 (I don’t gamble though, even a tiny bit, I’m here to eat nice food and drink adult beverages.) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271/60 "2020-03-15T21:51:15Z")
[No brackets will be released for the men’s or women’s basketball tournaments](https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2020-03-15/ncaas-gavitt-basketball-championship-brackets-will-not-be?utm_campaign=trending) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-the-ncaa-be-handling-the-the-basketball-tournament-and-the-coronavirus/849271.md?page=4)