Somehow, the NCAA and men’s college basketball got here. Despite an incomplete, erratic regular season, seemingly endless pauses from competition for some teams, and all the health concerns connected to preventing the spread of COVID-19, the stated goal was reached: Play an NCAA Tournament.
With few objections from its membership, the NCAA forged ahead with this season, plunging ahead like a fullback on fourth-and-1, much like the NFL did in completing its season. There was no stopping it. In the end, the check from the television rights will be cashed.
Just like the regular season that just completed, this will be a tournament unlike any other in many ways.
Which teams aren’t here is almost as interesting as the ones who are. Some of the sport’s traditional powers, Kentucky, Indiana and Duke, failed to qualify. The last NCAA Tournament not to include at least one of those teams, which have won a combined 18 titles, was played in 1974.
Duke had played in 24 consecutive tournaments, which had been the second -longest active streak (Kansas is first with 31, counting this season). Circumstances worked against Duke in 1995 when back surgery sidelined coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils failed to qualify. This year’s team was scheduled to play in the ACC quarterfinals Friday night, but a player tested positive, and the school declared its season over.
“This season was a challenge for every team across the country and as we have seen over and over, this global pandemic is very cruel and is not yet over,” Krzyzewski said in a statement. “As many safeguards as we implemented, no one is immune to this terrible virus.”
That was proven true less than 24 hours later when Virginia, the top-seed in the ACC tournament, suffered the same fate. Coach Tony Bennett issued a statement saying the school will do everything in its power to still play in the NCAAs. A few hours later, the same thing happened to Kansas, which dropped out of the Big 12 Tournament, but coach Bill Self also issued a statement saying his team would prepare to play in the NCAAs.
For a while in February, it looked like two other traditional powers, Michigan State and North Carolina, weren’t going to make it either. Both were on the bubble, but rallied to make the field. Seeding for both will be much higher than usual, deservedly. Michigan State had a series of unexpected, late-season victories over Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan to secure a spot. The Spartans have the third-longest active NCAA Tournament streak at 22 years, while Carolina is tied for fifth.
Even though they’ll be in the field, Michigan State’s Hall of Fame coach Tim Izzo isn’t exactly enamored of his team’s performance. “We’ve got guys playing better. It’s not like we’re playing great,” he said before the Big 10 tournament. He was prophetic as his team was eliminated in the second round.
Conversely, of the favorites for the NCAA Tournament, three of the four projected No. 1 seeds (Gonzaga, Baylor and Illinois), have never won it.
Gonzaga will be the overall No. 1 seed and although it has developed into a top program, the Zags are still outside of the sport’s power conferences.
The Zags do have a chance to make history. They are 26-0 and will try to become the first team to be an undefeated NCAA champion since Indiana in 1976 (Coincidently, another season when Kentucky and Duke were absent).
A decade ago, Baylor was one of the most downtrodden programs in the country; the NCAA nearly disbanded it. Coach Scott Drew has methodically built the Bears into a national championship contender.
Gonzaga and Baylor are clearly the two best teams and were scheduled to play in the regular season until the game was canceled because of a positive COVID test. Baylor also recently had a long pandemic pause, but seems to be regaining its early-season form.
Illinois has had some powerful teams, but the Illini have been more ill-fated with some painful losses, including in the national championship game in 2005.
The championship, and all other 66 games, will be played in Indiana, mostly in Indianapolis, with some games at Purdue in West Lafayette and Indiana University in Bloomington. The Indianapolis venues are Lucas Oil Stadium, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, and Farmers Life Coliseum.
Having all teams in one area allows the NCAA to create a controlled environment. It is not a bubble as the NBA had last season.
Despite the best of intentions, the schedule could be disrupted (You have Duke and Virginia as examples), and that could create odd situations.
Following the selection of the field Sunday, if a team is disrupted by a positive test before Tuesday at 6 p.m., it will be replaced in the field. The method, however, is unusual. After it fills the 68-team field, the selection committee will designate other teams, in order, as replacement teams for berths.
A worst-case scenario would be this. Let’s say the committee designates Drake as the 69th team and the first replacement team. Then Gonzaga, the overall No. 1 seed, has to drop out. The field will not be reseeded nor the bracket changed; Drake would just take Gonzaga’s place in the bracket and play a 16 seed in the first round.
The rules for automatic qualifiers from conferences with only one bid are different. If the league’s champion can’t play, the conference can designate a replacement from its own league, most likely the runner-up, or it could be a regular-season champion that was upset in the conference tournament.
After Tuesday, if a team can’t play, its opponent will automatically advance to the next round. The NCAA’s basketball committee is hoping protocols will prevent that from happening, but as we’ve learned during this pandemic season, chance are there will be a problem.
Limited NCAA Tournament capacity
The tournament will be played in Indiana and mostly Indianapolis. Capacity will be limited to 25 percent. Two courts will be utilized at Lucas Oil Stadium, but only one game will be played at a time. The 25 percent includes players and staff.
Mackey Arena (West Lafayette)
Capacity: 14,804; NCAA capacity: 3,701
Assembly Hall (Bloomington)
Capacity: 17,222; NCAA capacity: 4,305
Lucas Oil Stadium
Capacity: 70,000; NCAA capacity: 17,500
Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Capacity: 20,000; NCAA capacity: 5,000
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Capacity: 9,100; NCAA capacity: 2,275
Farmers Life Coliseum
Capacity: 6,800; NCAA capacity: 1,700
Joe Sullivan can be reached at jtsullivan@globe.com.
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