Yahoo Finance Entire NCAA women's tournament to be held in San Antonio area due to COVID-19 pandemic
Just like the men's tournament, the entire NCAA women’s tournament will be held in one location.
The decision to host the women's tournament in the San Antonio area, the NCAA announced on Friday, was made in an effort to help keep everyone involved safe amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Most games in the tournament will be held at The Alamodome — which is where every Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four game will be held. The tournament will use five different locations in the area for the first round, including one site at the University of Texas in Austin — which sits about 80 miles north of San Antonio.
“We appreciate the historical significance of moving the entire championship to one region and want to acknowledge the work by the Women’s Basketball Committee and staff, our hosts, local organizers and ESPN that has allowed us to make plans for a successful 2021 championship,” said Lynn Holzman, NCAA vice president of women’s basketball, via The Associated Press.
“We’re fortunate to be working with San Antonio, which features one of the most experienced local organizing committees in the country, and our No. 1 priority is to focus on creating and implementing safety controls in an environment for student-athletes, coaches, administrators, officials and everyone else associated with the championship.”
Men’s tournament set for Indianapolis
The NCAA announced last month that Indianapolis will host the entire men’s tournament at various locations around the area — including at Ball State, Butler, Indiana, Purdue and the Indiana Convention Center.
The NCAA is planning to establish a bubble of sorts, and all teams are going to be staying in a hotel that is “within a controlled environment” and connected to the convention center. The Final Four had already been scheduled to take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Though the tournaments are moving forward, not everyone will get to compete for a championship this year. The NCAA announced Wednesday the Division III winter championships were canceled due to both the coronavirus pandemic and low participation. The Division III winter championships were canceled last year, too, after the sports world came to a near-complete stop at the onset of the pandemic.
All NCAA championships for fall sports were canceled last year, too — though the College Football Playoff and select bowl games, which are not run by the NCAA, were still held.
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