02-11-2021, 11:46 PM
A good question is whether a PAC-12 tournament this year would be beneficial to the teams in the conference.
That is, given the money/cost of a tournament, along with the risks of losses that knock teams down or out of the NCAA tournament, along with the chance of COVID exposure that would knock even Stanford out of the NCAA tournament, what's the bottom line?
For instance, if Stanford were to win out, they'd likely be a #1 seed. A tournament loss could knock them out of #1. A loss before the Pac-12 tourney would probably knock them out as well, even if they win the Pac-12 tourney (depending on the fates of other teams).
It doesn't appear that a COVID exposure to an infection on another team at the P12 tournament could prevent a team from playing in the NCAA tournament. The P12 final game is Mar. 7. The NCAA tournament starts 14 days later (Mar 21), so a quarantine would be over.
But, a COVID case from an exposure at the tournament (or in the hotel or at meals) would knock players or teams out. An exposure on March 7 might result in symptoms first showing up 5 or so days later (Mar 12) and require at least 10 days isolation (Mar 22), and others exposed to that player to quarantine those same 10 days. They can't travel until the day of the first game. If a top team is missing 3 players for the first game, they probably will win anyway. But if a team is down 6 players or so, they'll have a hard time winning or even playing.
That is, given the money/cost of a tournament, along with the risks of losses that knock teams down or out of the NCAA tournament, along with the chance of COVID exposure that would knock even Stanford out of the NCAA tournament, what's the bottom line?
For instance, if Stanford were to win out, they'd likely be a #1 seed. A tournament loss could knock them out of #1. A loss before the Pac-12 tourney would probably knock them out as well, even if they win the Pac-12 tourney (depending on the fates of other teams).
It doesn't appear that a COVID exposure to an infection on another team at the P12 tournament could prevent a team from playing in the NCAA tournament. The P12 final game is Mar. 7. The NCAA tournament starts 14 days later (Mar 21), so a quarantine would be over.
But, a COVID case from an exposure at the tournament (or in the hotel or at meals) would knock players or teams out. An exposure on March 7 might result in symptoms first showing up 5 or so days later (Mar 12) and require at least 10 days isolation (Mar 22), and others exposed to that player to quarantine those same 10 days. They can't travel until the day of the first game. If a top team is missing 3 players for the first game, they probably will win anyway. But if a team is down 6 players or so, they'll have a hard time winning or even playing.