Virginia’s chances of playing in the NCAA Tournament are still alive on Saturday night

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia did not have to report a clean bill of health to the NCAA by the 11 p.m. deadline Saturday in order to qualify for a bid to the national tournament.

There has been some confusion about that deadline according to a NCAA source. The perception has been that UVA and Kansas had to inform the NCAA that their teams were clear from Covid-19 in order to make the tournament by 11 p.m. That is not accurate.

Saturday’s deadline means that for both the UVA and KU programs  “that nothing has come up yet to block those two team’s paths into the NCAA Tournament,” the source said.

Neither program will be disqualified from competing in the tournament by the 11 p.m. deadline as long as Virginia and Kansas present evidence that their program’s Covid situations had not worsened.

According to the the source, both programs are administering Covid-19 tests daily to their players and staffs, just as is every school in the tournament.

The NCAA is working with both Kansas and Virginia to possibly allow both programs into the tournament as long as it is safe. Every day that passes without another positive test in each program is a positive, because there is a chance the Cavaliers and/or the Jayhawks could travel after seven days (from the original positive test) to play.

In Virginia’s case, the first positive test came either Thursday night or early Friday morning, which means if the Cavaliers are Covid free, they could fly to Indianapolis in time to participate in the tournament.

There is another deadline on Tuesday that will ask teams if they are healthy enough to play.

For both UVA and Kansas, it is a day-by-day situation, again with daily testing. The fortune for both teams could change as tests come back. Another negative test could possibly end both or either team’s chances.

Meanwhile, the NCAA has left both the Cavaliers and Jayhawks in their field until further notice.

 

On another good note for Virginia, none of the Syracuse players from UVA’s dramatic opening round win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals last Thursday, tested positive for the virus.

 

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