The Tigers won’t have an opportunity to avenge last year’s short SEC tourney run.
If you’ve been living under a rock and missed the big news out of Nashville, the SEC announced the league’s 2020 tournament has been canceled due to the threat of the coronavirus.
Here’s the statement issued by the league:
Based on the latest developments and the continued spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Southeastern Conference today announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville.
“We understand that this decision will be disappointing to our student-athletes and coaches who have been preparing all season to compete in this event as well as viewers at home,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “While this was not an easy decision, the health and well-being of our entire SEC community is of paramount importance.”
The SEC’s regular season champion, the University of Kentucky, will be awarded the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The SEC will provide additional updates on other scheduled SEC championship events as they become available. The SEC reminds everyone to be attentive to everyday preventive actions identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov).
The Tigers weren’t scheduled to play until Friday but Will Wade and his LSU team were already in Nashville and had begun preparing for the upcoming tournament when the league announced the decision to cancel the event.
According to Coach Wade, he figured this news was coming after seeing the NBA suspend play on Wednesday evening.
Here’s Wade’s reaction on Thursday, courtesy of Jacques Doucet of WAFB Channel 9 in Baton Rouge:
"We have to take it as it comes."#LSU Will Wade responds to the SEC Tournament being canceled in Nashville. I am sending complete interview to @WAFB9Sports shortly. Wade says the team is flying back to Baton Rouge tonight (Thursday). https://t.co/OJZ96ACzyS pic.twitter.com/FIJbVBpRdI
— Jacques Doucet (@JacquesDoucet) March 12, 2020
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
