Saturday night’s scheduled match between the 7th seeded Oregon and the 10th seeded VCU in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament has been declared a non-match with the Ducks advancing to the second round due to COVID-19 problems within the VCU program. This is the first cancellation of the tournament as the event continues with strict COVID-19 test standards.
“The NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee has declared the VCU-Oregon game scheduled for Saturday night at Indiana Farmers Coliseum a non-game due to COVID-19 protocols,” the NCAA said in a statement. “This decision was made in consultation with the Marion County Department of Public Health. As a result, Oregon will advance to the next round of the tournament. The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU’s student athletes and coaching staff cannot play. “In a tournament in which they deserved the right to participate. Due to privacy issues we can no longer provide details.”
Oregon will play the winner of the game Saturday night between Iowa and No. 15 Grand Canyon winner.
The cancellation is a bitter end for VCU after the Rams reached the NCAA Tournament as a big team after a 19-7 season.
A Source said Matt Norlander of CBS Sports that positive tests emerged Wednesday night, Friday night, and Saturday morning within the VCU program. These positive tests have led to health officials in Indiana and the NCAA deciding to allow VCU to continue playing, according to Norlander, is too risky.
Although NCAA officials had earlier said that a team with only five players could compete, officials in this case determined that the situation of the VCU ‘seems to be spreading’, Norlander reported.
The non-match means that at least four of the five Pac-12 teams that scored the field of 68 will play in the second round. Oregon State, Colorado and USC each won games in the first round. UCLA play the 6th BYU Saturday night in a game in the first round after the Browns won Thursday night in the First Four.
VCU and St. Bonaventure were the Atlantic 10’s two teams in the field of 68, but both were eliminated on Saturday, with the number 9-seeded Bonnies falling under LSU. Unfortunately, the Rams never got a chance on the track.
“This is extremely disappointing and heartbreaking for the athletes who worked so hard for this event,” Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade said in a statement. “During this pandemic, the medical advisory boards have the power to make all the student-athlete, staff and teams make this decision for safety and well-being. VCU has had an excellent year, and this setback does not diminish any of their achievements.”