COVID Forces VCU Rams Out of March Madness

All 68 teams made it to the post for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament, but Virginia Commonwealth University has been forced out just hours before its scheduled first round game due to an undisclosed COVID issue within the program. According to reports VCU had a positive test surface on Wednesday, followed by two more positives Friday night, which prompted Marion County health officials and the NCAA to decide that VCU taking the court on Saturday night to be too risky. As a result of the 'uncontested game', the No. 7 seeded Oregon Ducks advance to the second round. The news was more positive leading into the tournament with just eight positives out of 9,100 nose swabs amongst Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 personnel. This is one of the fears even in the controlled environment of the tournament being entirely held in the Indianapolis area. The NCAA is quoted as being cautiously optimistic of the VCU case being an isolated incident, but that protocols for both the men's tournament and women's tournament in San Antonio may be tightened even further.