March Madness
Credit...Alex Eben Meyer
March 17, 2021
Will you be watching the N.C.A.A. Division I men’s basketball tournament that begins this week? Do you think the N.C.A.A. can pull it off without a public health crisis? Do you think the tournament should happen at all this year?
Here is a little context about what is at stake:
The decision to pull 68 teams from across the country into a tournament in Indiana will have enormous repercussions for college sports. A successful men’s tournament, as well as a smooth women’s tournament in Texas, would lift the morale and finances of an industry that the pandemic has left in a precarious position. The N.C.A.A. lost nearly $56 million in its most recent fiscal year, primarily because the 2020 men’s tournament was not held.