No Fans At AAC, NCAA Tourneys
The Story: The AAC men’s tournament and the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament will not allow fans in the arena for the duration of March. The Hockey East playoff game this Saturday between UConn and UMass-Lowell is also in question. If you are reading this in the late morning, we wouldn’t be surprised if the games don’t go off, especially if the NCAAs are canceled.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?: We couldn’t fathom this a week ago. But the Coronavirus and its spread is paralyzing the country, and world for that matter. We are not even sure if the games will go on as scheduled this morning and with the NBA suspending its season, we also don’t know if the NCAA tournament will go on at all. We don’t know how anything will play or not play out. The NBA has suspended its season and the NHL will probably follow suit. Why would the NCAA keep going?
WHAT IT MEANS? This is going to end the college season. It’s over as far as a fan experience. There will be no fans at the AAC tournament starting today with UConn against Tulane. The NCAA women’s tournament, which would have two rounds at UConn most likely, will also be fanless. Would we like to watch empty stands and games on TV? Yes. But we are not even sure if we are even going to get that.
UCONN WILL CLOSE DOWN: The University, which goes on spring break on Friday, will close down over the next several weeks and classes will be done remotely for now.
OUR TAKE: This is as sad a moment we have ever experienced in sports. This is a sports newsletter, and Zac and I have spent our entire careers living and breathing sports. But while sports can be a distraction from the real world, it doesn’t exist separately from the real world. War and disease have stopped sporting events before and this is no different. We can’t make a moral case for games to be played, even with no fans. The sole reason for players playing is so we can watch it on TV while we self-quarantine. Literally, athletes aren’t getting paid, there are no fans at the NCAA games, and we may be crisscrossing the country with these athletes for no other reason than entertainment. We are starting to question whether it is even worth it to play these games. They aren’t meaningless games, that’s a disrespect to the athletes and coaches who play sports, but the games aren’t necessary.
Empty Arena, Plenty To Play For
The Story: The UConn men are scheduled to play Tulane in the first round of the AAC tournament today at 3 p.m.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: We don’t know if the game will go on. That said we are gonna assume that the game is going forward in a timely yet eerie manor. The Huskies will play Tulane for the second time in five days and will do so in Forth Worth, Texas. If the Huskies win, and the tournament keeps on playing, the Huskies will play No. 4 seed Wichita State in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
WHAT’S AT STAKE: UConn needs to win four straight to make the NCAA tournament. The NCAA indicated Wednesday that the NIT, which it owns, will also go on as scheduled and be fanless.
STOP TULANE: The Huskies beat Tulane on Sunday, but struggled defensively to stop the Green Wave. Tulane shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the first half and 48.2 percent for the game and got to the rim on many occasions against the Huskies’ defense.
CAN THE HUSKIES WIN FOUR STRAIGHT? The point of this tournament is to get to the NCAA tournament. UConn is going to have to win four straight, and the predictions are the Huskies have a decent shot at winning four straight — about 9% chance. The key will be the lack of depth for the Huskies. UConn has eight scholarship players, and Sid Wilson is a bit player. Can James Bouknight and Christian Vital continue their stellar play? UConn is going with a 7-man rotation and play four games in four days is a tough task. There will be no crowd and no tourney atmosphere to get the adrenaline going. Are the Huskies up to the task?
Morning Reads
GENO ON NCAAs: Geno Auriemma knows that the decisions the NCAA is making are hard, and he knows it is the right thing to do. (Hartford Courant)
AAC ROUNDTABLE: Trying to distract from Coronavirus? How about a roundtable in the AAC tourney. (The UConn Blog)
OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Here’s the official release on the UConn men’s and women’s postseason games. (UConnhuskies.com)
WLAX WINS: Lia Larise scored five goals as UConn defeated Columbia 14-7 on Wednesday. (UConnhuskies.com)
KEARSEY FIRST SWIMMER TO MAKE NCAAs: Swimming isn’t a sport that we expect UConn to excell in, but Will Kearsey became the first UConn men’s swimmer ever to qualify for the NCAA Championships scheduled for later this month. (UConnhuskies.com)
