The NCAA Tournament has been canceled for both men's and women's Division 1 basketball in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic:

Major conferences had preceded this move by canceling their tournaments on Thursday.

The American Athletic Conference was the first domino to fall on Thursday after the Ivy League canceled all spring sports for the 2019-20 school year shortly after nixing its men's and women's basketball tournaments on Wednesday due to this situation.

The University of Kansas and Duke University suspended all athletic-related travel, forcing the hand of the NCAA with two blue-bloods potentially out of the running for the Big Dance.

Other sporting leagues have already taken this measure, including the NBA after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. His teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive on Thursday morning.

Italy's Serie A and Spain's La Liga — both top-tier soccer leagues — have been suspended due to the outbreak. China has also halted all its sporting events due to this pandemic.

Before the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament, every major conference to date had banned fans from the arena for the remainder of their tournament games.

The NCAA had also announced that fans would not be allowed to attend NCAA Tournament games before this decision — all leading up to the inevitable.

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The COVID-19 Advisory Panel, which the NCAA put in place, had released a statement noting they “recognize the fluidity” of the situation and they “recommend against sporting events open to the public,” according to Rob Dauster of NBC Sports.

“We do believe sport events can take place with only essential personnel and limited family attendance, and this protects our players, employees, and fans,” the panel’s statement read.

Despite the shocking chain reaction this coronavirus has caused in sports, the first rule of every business is to keep its patrons safe. This was an inevitable decision to ensure that the NCAA was putting safety first for its fans, employees, coaches, and student-athletes.