March Madness 2021: Top Teams Withdrawing From Conference Tournaments

Some of the best teams in college basketball won’t win their conference championship, even though they won their final game before March Madness 2021. Virginia is out of the ACC Tournament and Kansas withdrew from the Big 12 Tournament Friday because of positive COVID-19 tests within the two programs.

Virginia was scheduled to play Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament semifinals. Kansas had been set to face Texas in the Big 12 semifinals.

Without an automatic bid, both teams are virtual locks to make the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia defeated Syracuse Thursday to improve its overall record to 18-6. The Cavaliers rank 16th in the latest AP Top 25 and 15th in the Coaches Poll. Virginia is the most recent national champion, having won the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Kansas was the top-ranked team in the country when last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Jayhawks rank 11th and 12th in the two polls with a 20-8 record. Kansas players David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna missed the team’s win over Oklahoma Thursday because of COVID-19 protocols.

Breaking: The ACC announced that the Georgia Tech vs. Virginia game has been canceled following a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Virginia program.

Georgia Tech will advance to the men's ACC Tournament championship game. pic.twitter.com/U5gs4GgBhl
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2021

There is still optimism within the Kansas program that the Jayhawks will be able to participate in the NCAA tourney, source told @Stadium. https://t.co/YJn7q7iRcj
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 12, 2021

“Obviously we are disappointed and our players are disappointed that they can’t continue to compete for the Big 12 championship,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “While we have been fortunate to avoid this throughout the season, there are daily risks with this virus that everybody participating is trying to avoid. We have followed the daily testing and additional protocols that have been setup for us, unfortunately we caught a bad break at the wrong time. I look forward to preparing my team in probably a unique way for next week's NCAA Tournament.”

Per NCAA rules, Kansas and Virginia will need five healthy players in order for the teams to be allowed to compete in the NCAA Tournament.

ESPN’s bracketology projects Kansas to be a No.3 seed and Virginia to be a No.4 seed in the field of 68. The complete bracket will be revealed Sunday night.

Duke's season likely ended Thursday when it had to pull out of the ACC Tournament because of a positive COVID-19 test.