NCAA Basketball: Impact of canceling March Madness for 2019-20 season

Impact on programs

Program-building has also taken a significant hit on a number of fronts.

For starters, the recruiting calendar has been thrown off as on- and off-campus recruiting has been suspended by virtually everyone through at least the end of the month, and potentially for longer. That will limit the amount of late-cycle commitment swings as many programs may get their final pitches in front of potential prospects. The McDonald’s All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic have also already been canceled.

March Madness is a huge part that recruiting pitch as well, and obviously has a big impact on overall program momentum. A run through a conference tournament can boost the notoriety and credibility of program and coaching staff, while a run in the NCAA Tournament can do so but at an exponentially higher rate.

A number of schools were in excellent position to take advantage of that, too. Penn State and Rutgers, programs that have been at the bottom of the Big Ten forever (and at the bottom of the Big East before that in Rutgers’ case) were both going to make the tournament and had the potential to win games once there. That would’ve been such an incredible boost for the rebuilding jobs Pat Chambers and Steve Pikiell have done, respectively.

Then there are mid-majors like Dayton, San Diego State, and even East Tennessee State who were in positions to make really deep runs. Those opportunities rarely come around but have been program-making runs for schools like Gonzaga, Butler, Wichita State, and VCU.

Speaking of VCU, let’s look at Shaka Smart because he highlights another ripple effect from this decision. He became the hot coaching candidate while he was at VCU by leading them to the Final Four and eventually landed the Texas job. And he’s obviously not the only one to experience a meteoric rise like that (shout out Andy Enfield). That opportunity is being taken away from mid-major coaches as well.

On the flip side, what does this do for programs that had coaches on the hot season, i.e. Texas with Shaka Smart? He likely needed to make the NCAA Tournament in order for him to keep his job, and they were right on the bubble. Do the Longhorns bring him back because of their hot close to the season, or do they not? Many other programs will be forced to make similar tough choices with incomplete coaching performances.