The Saturday night competition between number 7 in Oregon and number 10 in the VCU in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament was declared without competition with the Ducks advancing to the second round because of COVID-19 problems within the VCU program. It is the first cancellation of the tournament as the event proceeds with rigorous COVID-19 testing standards.
“The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee declared the VCU-Oregon game scheduled for Saturday night at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum to be unfettered because of the COVID-19 protocols,” the NCAA said in a statement. “This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Department of Public Health. As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament. The NCAA and the committee regret that the VCU student-athletes and technical staff cannot play in a tournament in which they won the right to participate. For privacy reasons, we are unable to provide further details. “
Oregon will play the winner of the Saturday night game between the No. 2 seed Iowa and the No. 15 seed Grand Canyon.
The cancellation marks a bitter end for the VCU after the Rams arrived at the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team after a 19-7 season.
A source said Matt Norlander of CBS Sports that positive tests emerged within the VCU program on Wednesday night, Friday night and Saturday morning. These positive tests prompted health officials in Indiana and the NCAA to decide that allowing the VCU to continue playing was very risky, according to Norlander.
Although NCAA officials said earlier that a team could only compete with five players, the officials determined in this case that the VCU situation could “appear to be spreading,” said Norlander.
The no-contest means that at least four of the five Pac-12 teams that reached the field of 68 will play in the second round. Oregon State, Colorado and USC won games in the first round. UCLA is playing BYU’s 6th place on Saturday night in a first round game after the Bruins won the first four on Thursday night.
“During these difficult times, health and safety are the highest priority,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said in a statement. “We would like to wish the student-athletes and employees of VCU all the best and congratulate them on the excellent season. We hate to see a team’s season end like this, after all the hard work of these student-athletes. Not in the way we wanted to move forward. , but we’re excited to move on and we’ll start preparing for Monday’s game. “
VCU and St. Bonaventure were the two Atlantic 10 teams on the 68, but both were eliminated on Saturday, with No. 9 seed Bonnies falling to LSU. Unfortunately, the Rams never had a chance on the court.
“This is tremendously disappointing and painful for student-athletes who have worked so hard for this opportunity,” Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said in a statement. “During this pandemic, medical advisory boards have the authority to make that decision for the safety and well-being of all student-athletes, staff and teams. VCU had an excellent year and this setback does not diminish its achievements. “