Oregon advances to the second round after its first-round game against VCU was called off hours before tip-off.
Hours before tip-off, the first-round game between Oregon and VCU has been ruled a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols, the NCAA announced Saturday. Oregon will advance to the second round.
“This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Public Health Department. As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament," the NCAA announced in a statement. "The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues, we cannot provide further details.”
VCU was making its ninth NCAA men's basketball tournament appearance in the past 10 tournaments. The Rams were 19-7 overall on the season and finished in second place in the Atlantic 10, losing to St. Bonaventure in the conference tournament final.
After the announcement, VCU coach Mike Rhoades said the team has had multiple positive tests within the past 48 hours, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello. The team reportedly had its first positive test on Wednesday, then two more on Friday night that prompted the NCAA and Marion County health officials to decide against holding Saturday night's game, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
This is the first game of the NCAA tournament to be canceled because of COVID-19.
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