Power 5 Conference Tournaments to Continue With No Fans

The conferences follow the lead of the NCAA in allowing their basketball tournaments to continue without spectators as coronavirus concerns grow.

Basketball's major conferences—the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, Big East and SEC—all announced Wednesday that their men's basketball tournaments would continue without fans in attendance.

The Big Ten lead the pack, announcing in a statement that its men's basketball tournament would continue without spectators, beginning with the second round on Thursday.

The Big 12 followed up with a similar announcement, with commissioner Bob Bowlsby announcing the conference tournament would have limited fan access. Each team will have access to 125 tickets for staff and guests of student-athletes. The policy will take effect beginning with Thursday's games.

"The attempt is to absolutely minimize the number of people that are here," Bowlsby said, "but still find a way to conduct the events and actually get the opportunity to play the games."

The ACC joined the aforementioned conferences by restricting spectator access, with the Pac-12, SEC and Big East following suit later in the evening. 

The Southland Conference, the Big West and MAC men's and women's basketball tournaments will also be played without spectators and closed to the general public..

In addition, all further Big Ten winter and spring sports competitions will be limited to "student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams."

The decisions come as leagues across the world make preparations to deal with the global coronavirus pandemic. NCAA president Mark Emmert announced that all NCAA tournament games would be played with no fans in attendance.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine plans to issue an order preventing crowds from attending any indoor sporting events in the state of Ohio. DeWine issued a state of emergency on Wednesday, stating "The reason we're doing the things we're doing is we have the potential of becoming Italy," according to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post.

Italy has been placed under lockdown, as government officials attempt to control the spread of coronavirus. On Wednesday, Juventus defender Daniele Rugani tested positive for coronavirus, and is reportedly asymptomatic.