ACC Cancels Rest Of Men's Basketball Tournament In Greensboro

GREENSBORO, NC —The Atlantic Coast Conference changed its mind Thursday and decided to cancel the final three days of the tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina, amid rapidly increasing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease, also known as COVID-19. Heading into Thursday, the ACC planned to play the final three rounds without spectators at the Greensboro Coliseum.

“Following additional consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors, and in light of the continued conversations surrounding the fluidity of COVID-19, the Atlantic Coast Conference will immediately cancel the remainder of the 2020 ACC Tournament," the ACC said Thursday in a statement.

For NCAA tournament automatic qualification purposes, Florida State will represent the league as the ACC champion. "We are disappointed for our student-athletes, schools and fans to have to make this decision; however, the overall health and safety of all involved is the priority," the conference added.

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The University of Virginia, the defending NCAA men's basketball champion, was scheduled to play Notre Dame Thursday night in their first game of the 2020 ACC tournament. The UVA men's basketball team entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed and was hoping to maintain its momentum from a late-season surge. UVA alumni clubs had planned ACC tournament watch parties at three locations in the D.C. area.

On Wednesday, UVA was the first Virginia school to announce plans to cancel classes and switch to online learning. The university told students and staff that it would not be holding classes on campus for the foreseeable future and "quite possibly through the end of the semester."

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This is the first time in the 67-year history of the ACC tournament that it has been canceled. Before Thursday, the tournament had played on without interruption every year since 1953. The Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 also canceled their men's basketball conference tournaments on Thursday.