The ACC announced Thursday that all athletic-related activities have been suspended, including inter-conference competitions as well as participation in upcoming NCAA tournaments, per a tweet from the official ACC Twitter account. This advisory applies to all sports throughout the conference and is indefinite at this point.
“The Atlantic Coast Conference has suspended all athletic related activities including all competition, formal and organized practice, recruiting and participation in NCAA championships until further notice,” the tweet said.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a tweet that the decision was in the interest of protecting all parties involved in the facilitation of athletic competitions.
“This is uncharted territory and the health and safety of our student-athletes and institutions remains our top priority. This decision is aimed to protect from the further spread of COVID-19,” Swofford said.
The decision came “following consultation with the league’s presidents and athletic directors to mitigate the further spread of COVID-19,” according to the same tweet by the ACC.
“This is a challenging time for all of us and the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff and community remains our top priority and concern,” added Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond in a statement released on BCEagles.com. “We fully support the decision by the Atlantic Coast Conference to suspend all athletic related activities and the cancelation of the Hockey East Men’s Tournament.”
This announcement means that all ACC teams are barred from practice—formal or informal—recruiting processes, and participation in any NCAA tournaments, meaning that if BC women’s basketball was selected to participate in March Madness, it would have had to decline. But with the recent suspension of all championship tournaments in the NCAA, the Eagles will have no such chance.
As of Thursday afternoon, BC was listed as one of Charlie Creme’s “First Four Out” in his bracketology projections, putting the Eagles right on the cusp of a national playoff berth.
The ACC is not the only conference to have suspended its play—others to do so include the SEC, Big 10, Big East, and Ivy League, but this list is not exhaustive.
Even before the announcement of ACC competition cancellation, the ACC men’s basketball tournament was also cancelled outright.
BC men’s basketball played its opening round against Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament, but all future tournament games have been suspended, according to a press release from the ACC on Thursday afternoon. The Eagles lost their first-round ACC Tournament matchup against the Irish 80-58.
“Following additional consultation with the league’s presidents and directors, and in light of the continued conversations surrounding the fluidity of COVID-19, the Atlantic Coast Conference will immediately cancel the remainder of the 2020 ACC Tournament,” the ACC’s statement said.
Florida State, the regular-season conference champion, was set to represent the ACC as the conference champion in the NCAA March Madness tournament before cancellation. Before the cancellation, games were set to be played with only essential staff and family members in attendance.
“We are disappointed for our student-athletes, schools, and fans to have to make this decision; however, the overall health and safety of all involved is the priority,” the statement from the ACC said.
