The Big East today became the final major conference to cancel their men's basketball tournament, making the call after the first half of St. John's-Creighton was played as scheduled. FS1's Chris Mullin said the conference made the right decision, though it came "maybe a little bit late." He added, "I thought maybe the NCAA should have stepped in instead of having each conference making their decisions on their own." However, FS1's Tim Brando said it is "hard not to look at what we just did and say that bad optics didn't play a role in this game being called at halftime" ("Big East Tournament," FS1, 3/12). ESPN's Rece Davis called the Big East's move to start playing games “inexplicable.” He said, “The optics of it were unconscionable, perplexing" (ESPN, 3/12).
ACC Commissioner John Swofford this morning was confident that the league's tournament would continue as planned, but both Florida State and Clemson were pulled off the court before the start of their quarterfinal game. Swofford said, "We sat down and spoke with several of our coaches, several of our institutions, and also spoke with my colleagues at the other A5 conferences, and they were getting the same vibes. ... We then took it to our full presidents and athletic directors for a discussion." With several ACC schools on the verge of deciding not to play the spring sports schedule, he said, "It was my recommendation to curtail this tournament and move forward with our discussions about our spring sports, and they unanimously agreed with that” (ESPN, 3/12).
Meanwhile, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey talked to ESPN from the court at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, where the second round of his league's tournament was set to take place today. He said that some "indications of change within the NCAA" and its medical advisory panel led to the conference cancelling the event. Sankey called making the recommendation to cancel the "first time I've become emotional" during his five years as commissioner. He added, "The leadership of the five conferences are remarkable people, and the ability to communicate and work across these five conferences has been something that is a tribute to intercollegiate athletics" (ESPN, 3/12).
