The NCAA isn’t planning to hold the 2022 NCAA Men’s Tournament in a bubble, but it’s still planning for all sorts of different scenarios due to the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
One of those scenarios is potentially having replacement teams on standby if one of the 68 teams that qualifies for the 2022 NCAA Men’s Tournament isn’t able to play due to an outbreak.
“The NCAA Tournament Committee will likely have that discussion when it meets in January,” NCAA Senior VP of Basketball Dan Gavitt told College Hoops Today on Friday. “We’re still evaluating and considering all options.”
Gavitt added that in addition to discussing the possibility of replacement teams, the committee is also likely to discuss travel arrangements for teams that qualify for the NCAA Tournament and how quickly they would get to their first round sites once their opponents were learned on Selection Sunday. Last year, teams that were expected to be in the NCAA Tournament immediately left their conference tournament when they were eliminated and went directly to the bubble in Indianapolis.
“We’re in a different phase of the pandemic than we were last year,” Gavitt said. “The vaccines and boosters are giving us a better chance to navigate all of this.”
Gavitt also added that Dr. Brian Hainline — the NCAA’s Chief Medical Officer — and the NCAA’s Medical Advisory Group would ultimately decide what the medical protocols would be for the event. This includes testing and whether or not vaccinations and/or boosters would be required for participation.
The NCAA Tournament Committee is expected to meet on Jan. 19th, according to Gavitt.
