NCAA tournament without fans in the stands

Knew it wouldn't take very long to make it political......idiots

Wait they might have "fake fan sounds"...the ohh's & awwww's on tape...lol...

Are the cheerleaders still going to be there? at least that will be something to watch

I work in emergency medicine and it¡¯s a complete overreaction and panic

This shit is gonna be hella whack to watch on tv

guys the opening weekend is never packed...always empty seats everywhere.

thoughts on how this will skew games?  I was thinking maybe gives dogs more of an edge and perhaps players shoot better without crowd noise? 

I think quite the opposite.  Without the adrenaline of your fan base behind you, dogs have to find a way to keep it close themselves.  Talent will rise to the top on most occasions.  I'm looking for the least amount of upsets in tourney history.  

I'd play the unders as its very difficult to go from playing every game of the year in a packed gym, and now play in an empty, even bigger arena, with crickets in the stands.  Coaching will win this title.  Who can motivate their guys the best win.  Tom Izzo holds a very, very large advantage now.

That¡¯s part of the problem with the virus. You¡¯re contagious before symptoms show. 

80% of us will get it. College kids won't even know they have it. Just make it age based under 40 come on in if you have a medical condition don't come in. Merkel was smart telling her country 70% will get it. Kids fight it off the first day. Old people 80 and over or people in poor health over 60 have a problem with it just like the common flu. Silliness 

Great points and input.  Darn, I was really looking forward to a lot of upsets this year... 

Hell just booked my flight to Vegas last night...luckily was able to cancel for free since within 24 hours. I guess I should have been more prudent but never thought this would happen. Gonna be the most bizarre tournament ever that's for sure.

Now with there being "no fans" in the stands they should let the Ivy League play their tourney...sucks that Harvard get's screwed out of a chance to make the Madness..they could beat Yale..

The hype over the coronavirus is totally manufactured. If it is contagious as they claim, then the shit would have already hit the fan. Also, if it as bad as they claim, then it must be the end of the world as we know it? 

There is so many angles one could consider why they¡¯re hyping it up, but that¡¯s a whole another conversation in itself. Point, blank, and period, it¡¯s all lies. Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Our reality is fake just like these games we wager on. It¡¯s up to us to practice good discernment, just like they lines we are looking at.

Not to mention, that now everyone that was going to the games, will now pack into bars, at closer proximity to one another.  Mark Emmert needs to be the next to get COVID-19

From what I read they're going to allow close family/friends, so there will be some support in the lower bowl. Won't be completely empty.

Exactly.  This is such an over reaction to a media driven sickness.  The most susceptible are older people with underlying conditions.  Anyone under 65, it's like having the flu.  56,000 +/- die from the actual flu each year and we don't shut down shit for that....

This is ridiculous!

I'd rather see a chimp run the country...I'm in Canada & we have our own idiot running ours...

How is that fair to the public?? what if some of those close family & friends have the virus?? & they don't know they have it? isn't it the same damn thing?

do you take the flu seriously? If so I would expect that you don¡¯t go to public places during flu season correct? This virus isn¡¯t even close to the level of the flu

Why don't we take the flu, pneumonia, etc more serious.  Plenty more deaths from those sickness' than this manufactured bullshit.  Old people are gonna die if they get sick.  It's how the life works.

Turn off CNN & MSNBC, pal.

Once same amount of people are infected, it will blow away those numbers. 

For all we know the same number of people have been infected, just wrote it off as the flu.  I know I don't go to the doctor when I have the flu.  I would imagine most 20-50 year olds don't.  

The US didn't even test for COVID-19 until a few days ago, unless you were considered a risk (had been out of the country in the previous 14 days), so its likely that LOTS of people have had it and just not been 85 years old with a weak immune system.