Saturday’s first round game between Oregon No. 7 and VCU No. 10 was declared unchallenged because of the COVID-19 protocols within the VCU program, the NCAA announced.
Oregon automatically advances to the second round.
“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,” said the NCAA 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 VCU student-athletes and technical staff are unable to play in a tournament in which they have earned the right to participate. Privacy issues do not we can provide more details. “
This is the first NCAA tournament game canceled or declared a no-contest due to COVID-19 problems. The NCAA set the deadline for substitute teams to enter the field on Tuesday night; neither team had any problems at that time.
To enter the controlled environment of the NCAA tournament in Indianapolis, the teams had to show seven consecutive days of negative COVID-19 tests. Once in Indianapolis, the teams go through daily tests.
NCAA senior vice president of basketball, Dan Gavitt, said before the NCAA tournament that a team can continue playing in the tournament, as long as it has five “qualified and healthy” players. Contact tracking of the NCAA tournament and other COVID-19 protocols was expected to prevent a team from having to leave due to one or two positive tests.
“This is tremendously disappointing and painful for student-athletes who have worked so hard for this opportunity,” Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade said in a statement. “During this pandemic, medical advisory councils 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.”
Oregon will play against the No. 2 Iowa winner against No. 15 Grand Canyon.