NCAA basketball on COVID-19 cancellations: 'We need to muscle through - like football'
NCAA basketball will have a big decision to make moving forward. Should they continue with the college basketball season? Since the opening tip-off of the 20-21 season, fans and players have been in limbo, wondering if their game will be delayed or canceled due to COVID-19 related issues. Three Big Ten/ACC Challenge games were postponed earlier in the week, and just days before that, the top-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. No. 2 Baylor Bears was canceled due to positive COVID tests, to name a few.
NCAA basketball is at a point of no return
Unfortunately, none of this comes as a surprise. Scientists predicted that cases would increase in the winter months, and having a basketball season would be a risk for players' and coaches' health. Regardless of the warnings, players and teams wanted to play, but now seeing the reality, is it all worth it?
The Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski asked a similar question on Tuesday night,
Are we sure about this whole college basketball thing?
Coach K is not the only coach wondering about the state of NCAA basketball, Rick Pitino has been vocal about the concerning rise in cases and wanted to push the entire start date back. Although, coaches and players are raising their concerns here is a statement from a league official, via Dana O’Neil,
“We have passed the point of no return and need to muscle through — like football’’
It seems the college basketball committee is more committed to collecting the tv revenue than protecting the players that produce the actual product that makes them the money. It is embarrassing to watch a league that acts with no hesitation suspending a player for being given an extra side of french fries at a restaurant but hesitating to hold a coach accountable for not following the correct safety procedures.
How Should NCAA basketball move forward?
NCAA basketball is lacking leadership right now. With cases surging everywhere in the country, there seems to be no plan going forward, and they are just blindly leading these teams into a health risk.
These are questions that have no clear answer, and there is no guarantee that things will get better if the season does pause, but regardless NCAA basketball needs to reassess its strategy. They could shut it down and try to pay in the spring when a vaccine may be available, which is an option Dick Vitale mentioned,
If NCAA basketball cannot control their current madness, then there will be another year without March Madness.