Auburn was hoping to make another run at an SEC Tournament championship, but of course, that won’t happen this year as the league has announced the cancelation of the 2020 tournament on Thursday.

The league made the decision following the opening night of the 2020 SEC Tournament from Nashville. The league issued the following statement from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey explaining the news:

“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. While this was not an easy decision, the health and well-being of our entire SEC community is of paramount importance.”

With no league tournament, the SEC has declared Kentucky the league champion and given the Wildcats the SEC’s automatic berth in the 2020 NCAA Tournament.

Following the news, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl shared his thoughts during an appearance on the SEC Network.

“Part of you says, hey, let’s press forward. … But at the end of the day, we’re in a very uncertain time. … We’re going to take a step back, look at what we have and certainly not to anything to spread the disease,” according to Josh Vitale of the Montgomery Advertiser. “There was some anger. There were a couple of heads down and some tears. We had five seniors who worked to be seeded second in this tournament.”

The mixed emotion is understandable but that’s something players and fans alike are forced to deal with during this unprecedented time in American history.