Kansas Out of Big 12 Tournament Due to COVID-19 Positive Test, Texas Heads to Final

It remains to be seen if Kansas positive COVID-19 case will impact its availability and eligibility for the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas has withdrawn from the Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test in the Jayhawks' program, the conference announced Friday.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported the Jayhawks had a player test positive for COVID-19. The Jayhawks were scheduled to play Texas on Friday night in the Big 12 semifinal game. Kansas kept two players home due to COVID-19 protocols prior to leaving Kansas City. 

With Kansas out of the tournament, Texas will advance to the Big 12 championship game. 

Kansas coach Bill Self released a statement about the Jayhawks' withdrawing from the conference tournament.

“Obviously we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that they can’t continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,”Self said. “While we have been fortunate to avoid this throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that everybody participating is trying to avoid. 

"We have followed the daily testing and additional protocols that have been set up for us. Unfortunately we caught a bad break at the wrong time. I look forward to preparing my team in probably a unique way for next week’s NCAA Tournament.”

It remains to be determined if the Jayhawks positive COVID-19 case will impact their eligibility for the NCAA Tournament. Self said the three players who have positive tests will not travel with the team to Indianapolis on Monday, and he believes the player who tested positive on Friday might not be eligible for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, per Gary Bedore of The Kansas City Star.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee went through the bracket Friday and included both Kansas and Virginia. The committee is planning for both teams to play in the tournament next week. 

Kansas defeated Oklahoma 69–62 in the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday.

Kansas went 20–8 this season and 12–6 in Big 12 play. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 11 in the AP's latest poll.

Friday's news marks the third time in the past two days that a basketball program has withdrawn from a conference tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test. On Thursday, Duke dropped out of the ACC tournament due to a positive test. The Blue Devils are slated to miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995. Duke's 24-season streak is the third-longest in NCAA history, trailing only North Carolina (27) and Kansas (30).

Virginia was knocked out of the ACC tournament on Friday due to a positive test, so Georgia Tech advances to the ACC tournament championship game and will play the winner of Friday night's Florida State vs. North Carolina game.