For the first time since the NCAA began playing an end-of-season basketball tournament to determine its champion, college sports’ governing body decided to cancel what has become one of the premier sporting events in the United States.

Every year since 1939, the NCAA tournament had been held. However, in 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) was deemed too much of a threat and NCAA president Mark Emmert shut both the men’s and women’s tournaments down.

Early Discussions

As news of the coronavirus spread throughout the world in February and early March, there were reports that conference tournaments and the NCAA tourney might continue to be played but without fans.

Along with having a fantastic nickname, Vermont has a great product on the court. The Catamounts are first in the America East conference. If you can’t remember where you heard America East from, Vermont shares the conference with the NCAA Tournament darling UMBC Retrievers.

What makes the Catamounts a great bracket buster is that they excel on the defense end of the floor. Vermont is 5th in the entire country in defense points per game, only giving up an average of 59.3 points a contest.