What Options Should The NCAA Consider If They Feel The Need To Make Any Changes To This Year's Tourneys?

[CL82]

One other factor to consider if the NCAA decides to play in empty arenas is that the issue of geographical factors in regional placements becomes moot. If fans can't attend then why worry where teams play? Just assign teams based on the S-curve. Sure, keep conference foes apart until the regional finals but there's no need for Louisville to go to Fort Wayne if they aren't the top 2 seed.

The question is if you’re not gonna have fans do the hosting venue still want to host? I like the idea of just playing in the higher seeds gym without fans and televising the game

 

[Alydar]

The question is if you’re not gonna have fans do the hosting venue still want to host? I like the idea of just playing in the higher seeds gym without fans and televising the game

I agree about the empty stands. It was ridiculous for the NCAA to discourage handshakes at the same time they were promoting having thousands of people sit/stand shoulder to shoulder for 2 hours.

 

[donalddoowop]

Empty stands mean a loss of revenue that will be hard to recoup. This virus is why I posted in another thread that there may not be a next season. As bad as things are, I believe they are going to get worse.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Does some of the NCAA schools decisions have an effect on the WNIT tournament? I always thought that tournament was done by bidding for home games between the 2 teams to meet each other. If you cant have fans attend a home game, who will bid on a game that you cant have a gate revenue?

 

[UcMiami]

Obviously true, so why not cancel public gatherings during flu season, where in the US alone upwards of 30,000 people die annually? Or do the deaths by corona virus carry more sorrow than those by strains of influenza?1 Why not ban cars because of all the highway deaths? One could go on and on and it is pointless and cruel but unfortunately, also true that we all die. I am a free, thinking person and choose not to live in a bubble but rather use the intelligence and common sense I possess to protect myself as much as I see fit. I don’t need or want “leaders” to do that for me.

The difference is, depending on severity of the yearly strains, flu season results in:
9-45 million infections in the US each year
140,000-810,000 hospitalizations
12,000-61,000 deaths
That is a 0.13% death rate from infection for the worst year.
And we as humans around the world have deemed that to be 'acceptable' though the huge fear is that at some point in the future a flu strain will be as virulent as the 'Spanish' flu of 1917-20 which had a 3% or higher mortality rate. If such a flu strain were to reappear, all sorts of public measures would be rolled out. (There have been a few scares in the last 20 years - bird flu and swine flu)

This virus is a relative of the SARS virus which killed about 10% of those infected. The coronavirus is currently estimated at about a 3% fatality rate which may put it in the sweet spot for a 'deadly' pandemic - easily transmitted and not too fatal so most of the people carrying it are able to continue passing it on.

Counter-intuitively - the more deadly a virus after a certain point, the less like it is to spread. If everyone dies who gets it, they don't have the chance to spreading it. SARS while much more deadly, infected and killed many fewer people than covid19 already has.

 

[Plebe]

Does some of the NCAA schools decisions have an effect on the WNIT tournament? I always thought that tournament was done by bidding for home games between the 2 teams to meet each other. If you cant have fans attend a home game, who will bid on a game that you cant have a gate revenue?

Well, maybe USC will bid since they already knew no one was coming anyway

 

[Bama fan]

Whenever anyone dies it is of course significant to their love ones. But most of the time it is not significant to the world at large. This mass hysteria is totally out of control compared to reality. The same type of people who die from the flu will possibly die from this. Take reasonable precautions, if you are worried about attending games don't go. Again the few deciding what is best for the rest of us.

This attitude has been seen before. I think I have a clip.

 

[Figurehead]

That 70 year old backup point guard with asthma is vulnerable.

I think they should postpone the general election for one year until 2021 and make the next term after that just three year one. Not everyone would be able to vote in November.

 

[Dokey]

The state of Washington has just banned gatherings of 200 and more.

 

[Dokey]

That 70 year old backup point guard with asthma is vulnerable.

I think they should postpone the general election for one year until 2021 and make the next term after that just three year one. Not everyone would be able to vote in November.

Adopt Colorado’s vote by mail system. Every eligible voter gets a ballot which can be mailed or dropped off.

 

[UcMiami]

An interesting number for folks to remember when talking about confirmed cases numbers:
6,563
That is the total number of US virus test run to date. And the number of positive results are above 1000.

That is a tiny number of tests, and there are plenty of stories about individuals returning from countries like Italy who are unable to get a doctor to test them because they do not have access to the tests.

 

[Longtime fan]

Things are changing by the day, if not the hour. I'm certainly not an alarmist, but I do like to think of myself as a realist. Aside from the tradition and financial issues, which are major to be sure, there are also potentially life or death issues. Even if the NCAA doesn't outright cancel the tournaments, do you think some schools will elect to skip this year's tournaments. Grammar schools to Graduate schools around the country are already cancelling academic and sporting events...and on-campus classes. The first two rounds of the NCAA Division III tournament in Maryland were already played without spectators. There have been a plethora of major cancellations around the world. Not all are sports related. Entertainment, business, marketing, and on and on have not been spared. And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

At this time and date my option would be that all games will be played, but without spectators. Further, any school that backs out will not be penalized in any way. A default win to the opponent of the absent team. But then what about a scheduled game where both teams have elected to skip? Sadly, I think this is going to be a mess. Hope I'm wrong. I don't even want to think of the potential of an infection break-out having originated at one of the tournament venues.

Also, if a complete tournament cancellation comes to pass this year...then what?

Ideas...sans smart a** commnets?

UCLA today announced that spectators will not be permitted at UCLA sporting events until ( at least ) April 10. In addition, they are canceling all in-person classes, and doing everything online. I think the NCAA should do the draw on Monday and then postpone the event until we are out of the crisis. There is no point in playing the games before empty houses. In fact, I think the entire country should go into self-quarantine mode until at the medical community finds a means of treating this virus. As Italy has recently done.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Every two years like clockwork there's some new health crisis or disease that's going to finally be the one to wipe out the human race whether it's SARS, MERS, Ebola (twice), Bird Flu, Zika Virus, Swine Flu, Mad Cow's Disease, H1N1, then H1N3, and now Coronavirus, and the initial reaction is always the same: WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!! Then a a month or two goes by and everyone tires of hearing about it, and we just sort of forget about it and move on to the next thing. According to current numbers, ~0.0015% of the global population has this virus, and a little over 4k have died from it. To put that in perspective we lose about ten times that many people to guns every single year and no one cares. By May 1st this will be a back page story, and the NCAA will be kicking themselves for forfeiting a chunk of their $8.8 billion March Madness TV contract.

 

[donalddoowop]

Every two years like clockwork there's some new health crisis or disease that's going to finally be the one to wipe out the human race whether it's SARS, MERS, Ebola (twice), Bird Flu, Zika Virus, Swine Flu, Mad Cow's Disease, H1N1, then H1N3, and now Coronavirus, and the initial reaction is always the same: WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!! Then a a month or two goes by and everyone tires of hearing about it, and we just sort of forget about it and move on to the next thing. According to current numbers, ~0.0015% of the global population has this virus, and a little over 4k have died from it. To put that in perspective we lose about ten times that many people to guns every single year and no one cares. By May 1st this will be a back page story, and the NCAA will be kicking themselves for forfeiting a chunk of their $8.8 billion March Madness TV contract.

I hope what you say is true.

 

[Cuango]

On a serious note, cancel the tournament. This is about Collegiate Athletics and the students, alumni and their fans are more important to the game and tournament than ESPN, CBS and Turner Broadcasting.
Crown SC as NC, obviously with an *.
I don't think that anyone disagrees at this point that they are the best team.

I certainly do! I would say Oregon is the best team!

 

[j66kicker]

Every two years like clockwork there's some new health crisis or disease that's going to finally be the one to wipe out the human race whether it's SARS, MERS, Ebola (twice), Bird Flu, Zika Virus, Swine Flu, Mad Cow's Disease, H1N1, then H1N3, and now Coronavirus, and the initial reaction is always the same: WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!! Then a a month or two goes by and everyone tires of hearing about it, and we just sort of forget about it and move on to the next thing. According to current numbers, ~0.0015% of the global population has this virus, and a little over 4k have died from it. To put that in perspective we lose about ten times that many people to guns every single year and no one cares. By May 1st this will be a back page story, and the NCAA will be kicking themselves for forfeiting a chunk of their $8.8 billion March Madness TV contract.

I’ll just pick one of your examples. I couldn’t give blood for 20+ years because I had been to England. Mad Cow didn’t wipe out the human race, but do we know that isn’t because of the precautions we took?

 

[bluedevil]

Delay the tourny till June...

 

[hoopsdiva]

Delay the tourny till June...

That might work on the men's side, many of the top women will have moved on to the WNBA by then. Assuming of course that the WNBA schedule isn't also impacted by this.

 

[Cornell Lt]

The NCAA will hold the tournament no matter what, most likely with very limited attendance. Almost all of the revenue comes from the TV contracts anyway.

Here at Cornell University they are hosting a NCAA 1st round women hockey game on Saturday with no fans allowed in the rink.

The mens hockey team is playing host for the ECAC quarterfinal series at Lynah Rink with very limited attendance allowed (3 people for each athlete).

The Yale/Cornell lacrosse game will be held Saturday without fans allowed in Schoellkopf Field (outdoor stadium).

 

[oldude]

Here’s a couple of changes the NCAA could make to limit the potential for the spread of the virus. As many have suggested, prohibit fans from attending. While I know playing in empty arenas is not particularly exciting, and it would derail the plans of lots of fans who have already purchased tickets, this step seems prudent given the growing number of schools and institutions that have already canceled or curtailed large public gatherings

As a second step, the NCAA might consider a one-time change to setting up and seeding brackets, with a goal of minimizing or eliminating air travel. Basically, in setting up the 1st & 2nd rounds, as well as the regionals, the NCAA would place a premium on shorter travel distance. While this would create some mismatched regions, it would promote safer (bus) as well as less costly travel. As an example, both OR & OR St would end up in the Portland Region.

 

[visitingcock]

Elite 8 only.

Fly (private charter) top 8 teams to Bozeman Montana for a one week tournament. Free tickets to Montana residents who have not been out of state in the past month. Glass walls separate players from spectators.

Based on RPI

SCar
v
Mizzou St.
-----------------------
UConn
v.
Baylor
----------------------------------------------------------
Maryland
v.
Stanford
-------------------------
Oregon
v.
Louisville

ADJUSTED to eliminate first-round rematches (I think)
SCar
v
Mizzou St.
-----------------------
Maryland
v.
Baylor
---------------------------------------------------------
UConn
v.
Stanford
-------------------------
Oregon
v.
Louisville

 

[hoopsfan22]

Delay the tourny till June...

Can't. You'd run into eligibility issues.

 

[wbball novice]

The reasoning behind social distancing:

Flattening the Coronavirus Curve

 

[WestCoast]

Elite 8 only.

Fly (private charter) top 8 teams to Bozeman Montana for a one week tournament. Free tickets to Montana residents who have not been out of state in the past month. Glass walls separate players from spectators.

Based on RPI

SCar
v
Mizzou St.
-----------------------
UConn
v.
Baylor
----------------------------------------------------------
Maryland
v.
Stanford
-------------------------
Oregon
v.
Louisville

ADJUSTED to eliminate first-round rematches (I think)
SCar
v
Mizzou St.
-----------------------
Maryland
v.
Baylor
---------------------------------------------------------
UConn
v.
Stanford
-------------------------
Oregon
v.
Louisville

Missouri State isn't one of the top eight teams in the country, regardless of what the RPI shows. Probably not one of the top 16 teams, according to bracketology. Limiting the tourney to eight teams is problematic as well.

 

[meyers7]

This attitude has been seen before. I think I have a clip.

Yea I remember watching that documentary many years ago.