March Madness has officially been replaced by Corona Craziness. A the thread of the Coronavirus spreads across the nation the NCAA has moved from playing in empty arenas, to cancelling conference basketball tournaments, to ultimately cancelling all winter and spring championships.
This means no March Madness and no College World Series for both baseball and softball. It also means thousands of athletes are left up in the air as to exactly how their collegiate careers are going to conclude.
While Oklahoma was a lock for making an appearance in this year’s NCAA Tournament, after securing the #3 seed in the Big 12 conference, the true weight of this decision will be felt by the teams on the diamonds.
The Sooners were enjoying the best baseball team the university has fielded in several seasons. Through Thursday OU had the third best record in the Big 12 at 14-4 and we looking to challenge for the conference title.
Oklahoma Softball is ranked #6 nationally and are 20-4 on the season, riding a 7-game winning streak. OU was not just a favorite to win the conference yet again but to also make it back to the Women’s College World Series.
So what does this mean for the athletes who were playing a senior campaign? Take Giselle “G” Juarez for example. Oklahoma’s ace pitcher has been battling through an injury this season and has seen extremely limited action. Her prognosis seemed to be positive towards a full return for conference play but now her season, and career, has come to a sudden conclusion.
There’s very little trust in the NCAA making the correct decision and while cancelling spring championships seems to have been an easy choice the much bigger decision is going to be what they’re going to do for athletes like “G”.
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Juarez stills has a redshirt intact. I’m assuming the answer for her is to return as a fifth year senior. I’m more concerned that some of these younger players will lose that season of eligibility because they played in 20+ games…
Just my thoughts
Good point!