A surreal day at the Big Ten Tournament

Those waters took another not so unexpected turn on Thursday morning when minutes after Michigan and Rutgers took the court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, they were told to leave the floor.

The Big Ten announced a few minutes later that the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament had been cancelled.

Following the announcement, new Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren announced his reasoning for cancelling the event.

“As you make these decisions, which are not easy, you have to always ask yourself, what is the right thing to do? I just felt very strongly that the right thing to do for our student-athletes and for our fans and for the media and for our families, our coaches, our administrators, was to make sure that we cancel the Big Ten men's basketball tournament,” Warren said.

It was a surreal scene at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as the events played out.

I happened to arrive just before 11 a.m. local time and after picking up a media credential, I walked towards the media work area. The Big Ten had announced on Wednesday that they were no longer allowing fans to attend the event out of an abundance of caution due to mitigate the potential spread of the coronavirus.

The press area was about half full and I spoke with a few folks around the floor, including the Voice of the Hawkeyes, Gary Dolphin, who had arrived to begin his work for the broadcast. Short after that the clocked ticked towards 11 a.m. local time and the Michigan players took the court. They were excited, energize, and ready to play.

Then in the tunnel near where I was standing the Rutgers team gathered and ran on to the court with that same level of energy and passion.

Thinking the game were still on, I headed back to the media workroom to put down my backpack and start up my computer. A few minutes later a member of the Michigan sports information department who was seated across from me said, “I just got a text from our SID, the players are being escorted off the floor.”

It was at that moment I knew not only was the Big Ten Tournament done, but in all likelihood, the NCAA Tournament is probably not going to be played next week. It’s also worth noting that Iowa fans who were hoping to see the Hawkeyes wrestlers win an NCAA title next week will probably not be watching that event take place.

I headed out to the court and was told that indeed the event was cancelled and we were told a few minutes later that Warren would address the media.

The difficult part for everyone right is the fast paced ever changing events.

Think about the last 24 hours and what has happened. First fans were not going to be allowed to attend the various conference tournaments. Then the NBA suspended their season and now two all star NBA players have tested positive for the virus.

It’s moments like that where the thinking of those overseeing the sports we love to watch have to be nimble and change their thinking. Throw in the fact that on Wednesday evening Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg left the floor due to illness and Warren was left with no choice. He wrestled with his decision this morning, discussed it with the partner schools, and then released a statement from the conference.

“It was really important to me that I had an opportunity to talk to all of our chancellors, presidents, athletic directors and other key individuals on our campuses to discuss this issue,” Warren said. “You don't want to rush these decisions. It would have been great if it could have been two hours earlier this morning, but it wasn't. I think the biggest thing is we made the right decision. I feel very good with our decision. I'm very confident with our decision.”

March is a great time of year for college sports fans. We look forward to conference tournaments and seeing the Hawkeyes play in the NCAA Tournament.

Now we are left with no Big Ten Tournament and perhaps no NCAA Tournament in the month of March. It’s uncharted territory for college athletics and sports in general.

Warren said there will not be a Big Ten Tournament. It won’t be rescheduled.

We now have to wait and see if the NCAA Tournament will be played next week, which seems increasingly unlikely at this point. Could it be played a few weeks from now? Perhaps, but those are decisions that will be made at a later date.

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery expressed the sentiment that many college coaches have shared in the last 24 hours, it was the right decision.

“First and foremost, our prayers are with those who have been affected by the coronavirus as well as those responsible for the decisions that affect so many. Following the advice from global health professionals, the Big Ten made a very difficult, but correct decision.”

The most difficult part of this is for the players. They certainly want to play and for the seniors, they want one final shot at glory. Now we have to wait and see if they get that shot or if we are simply going to remember this as the season when we did not crown an NCAA basketball champion.