How the NCAA Hopes to Pull Off the Men and Women’s Tournament During Covid-19

The play-in games for the men’s tournament are scheduled for Thursday, with the round of 64 planned to begin on Friday. The women’s tournament is scheduled to start on Sunday.

These are not ‘bubbles.’

The N.C.A.A.’s plan calls for choke points to limit the pandemic’s risks to players and coaches, but the association’s strategy does not include all of the restrictions that the N.B.A. used last year to finish its season and playoffs in its so-called bubble in Florida.

More than 2,300 people in the travel parties for the 68 teams in the tournament field — players, coaches, trainers and the like — are expected to descend on Indiana for the men’s tournament. But there will also be referees, N.C.A.A. staff members, security guards, cleaning crews, journalists, relatives and fans to fill venues to up to 25 percent of their usual capacity.

Spectators will largely be barred from the first and second rounds of the women’s tournament, which will be played in Texas. Beginning with that tournament’s round of 16, the Alamodome in San Antonio is expected to host no more than about 11,000 spectators.

The most well-guarded participants in the tournaments, including players and coaches, will be required to stay within what the N.C.A.A. has described as a “controlled environment.” Others, even those who may be near the courtside, will not face any such limits, though they will have to wear masks and attempt to remain six feet away from people.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/15/sports/ncaabasketball/tournament-covid-questions-guide.html