NCAA cancels men's, women's basketball tournaments amid coronavirus outbreak

The NCAA announced Thursday that it has canceled the Division I men's and women's 2020 basketball tournaments over the coronavirus outbreak.

The college sports' governing body made the decision to cancel the event hours after several conferences decided to cancel their own respective men's and women's tournaments due to the outbreak.

"This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to the spread of the pandemic and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during the academic year given the ongoing decisions by other entities," the NCAA said in statement.

The decision came just a day after the NCAA announced the games that were scheduled to start next week would go on, but played in mostly empty arenas.

Additionally, all other winter and spring sports championships were canceled, the NCAA said.

The Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments, the so-called March Madness, are the biggest showcase events in NCAA sports and they have been played every year since 1939. The March Madness is also one of the sports' most interactive events with fans filling out brackets and picking winners. This year's men's tournament was to begin in Dayton, Ohio on March 17.