ATLANTA — There will be no March Madness this year. The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced that it has canceled the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships due to the coronavirus.
That includes the Men’s Final Four in Atlanta, which was scheduled for April 4-6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“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,” a statement said.
It’s the first time there will be no national basketball champion since 1938, before the championship existed.
This is a developing story. Stay with Channel 2 Action News and WSBTV.com.
The NCAA originally announced Wednesday afternoon that it would not play games in front of fans. The NBA announced later that day it was suspending the rest of its season.
The dominos in sports world have fallen since then.
Major League Soccer said its season will be suspended for 30 days. Major League Baseball stopped spring training and pushed back the season start at least two weeks.
Nearly all the major conferences canceled their basketball tournaments, including the Southeastern Conference after just a few rounds.