It's official: The NCAA tournament is canceled

NCAA president Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors made the announcement on Thursday afternoon amid concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus. The women's basketball tourney and all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships also have been called off.

The NCAA tourney is the NCAA's prime revenue generator. According to published reports, the NCAA made $933 million in revenue from media rights fees, ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, and a proliferation of television ads anchored around the three-week-long tournament in 2019.

Myriad events across the nation have been called off in recent days as health officials have tried to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.

Initially, the NCAA was going to conduct its tournament with only essential personnel on hand--no fans allowed. But the NCAA opted to scrub the event rather than risk infecting people.

The NCAA release read in part: "This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities."

Major conference basketball tournaments were beginning this week, where automatic bids would be handed out to winners. Teams also would battle for seed position in the 68-team NCAA bracket. The Final Four was slated for April 3-6 in Atlanta.

The Big Ten tourney began on Wednesday in Indianapolis with No. 12 Minnesota beating No. 13 Northwestern and No. 11 Indiana taking down No. 14 Nebraska. Four games were slated for today, including No. 10 seed Purdue playing No. 7 seed Ohio State at 6:30 p.m. ET.

But Thursday morning, the remainder of the Big Ten Tournament was canceled due to concerns over the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The conference's statement Thursday read in part: "The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus."

The Boilermakers likely needed three or four wins in the event in Bankers Life Fieldhouse to earn an NCAA bid. Now, Purdue's season is over, the Boilermakers finishing 16-15 overall and 9-11 in the Big Ten (tie for 10th place). Purdue had made the last five NCAA tourney, reaching the Elite Eight last season. But Purdue won't get a chance to play its way to the Big Dance.

On Wednesday, Purdue announced that all athletic activities will be “closed to the general public until further notice.” Many other college programs have announced precautionary measures, closing off all athletic activities to spectators for the time being.

On Thursday, Penn State announced postponement of all football-related activities until further notice.

In part, the statement read: "This postponement includes, but is not limited to practice, recruiting, media availabilities, Pro Day and any other football-related activities. A final decision on the annual Blue-White Game, scheduled for April 18, has not been made."

Purdue had earlier implemented policy to move classes online following spring break, limit travel and effectively bar gatherings of 50 or more people.

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