The Big Ten is changing plans. No more fans.
Less than an hour after tipoff between Minnesota and Northwestern in the postseason conference men's basketball tournament was open to spectators, Big Ten officials reversed course and announced a statement that games starting Thursday will no longer be open to the general public due to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
The decision came a little more than two hours after the NCAA announced it would play without fans at its annual March Madness tournament.
Beginning with the noon game between Michigan and Rutgers, the Big Ten tournament will be limited to players, coaches, event staff, essential team and conference staff members, TV network partners, credentialed media and immediate family of the participating teams.
"The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus on a daily basis," the conference said in a statement.
The Big Ten also said remaining winter and spring sport events _ including championship and tournament events _ will be limited to athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and conference staff, TV partners, media and family members.
The announcement came less than four hours after the conference announced it would allow crowds for its postseason men's basketball tournament, which opened at 6 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Fans were at the Minnesota-Northwestern game, with Indiana-Nebraska scheduled to follow.
Michigan State is scheduled to open play at 6:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday night's Ohio State-Purdue game.
