Big Ten, NCAA Tournament to be played without spectators

March 11, 2020
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

When the Wisconsin basketball team plays in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament the next two weeks it will be in mostly empty venues.

The NCAA announced Wednesday afternoon that the tournament will be played with only essential staff and a limited number of family in attendance in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States and around the world.

The Big Ten, after announcing earlier on Wednesday the conference tournament would go on as planned, changed its tune and said no fans would be allowed in starting Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the University of Wisconsin announced it was suspending face-to-face classes on campus beginning March 23 — the day classes were due to resume after the school’s spring break next week. That will continue until at least through April 10.

The Wisconsin women’s hockey team will be impacted. The team is slated to play Clarkson in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game at LaBahn Arena on Saturday. Chancellor Rebecca Blank said the game will be played but it will have a limited audience.