Coach K: NCAA can't afford to cancel March Madness in 2021

Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski believes that college sports' governing body cannot afford to cancel March Madness for the second straight year.

"We're the thing that the NCAA is most concerned about," the Hall of Famer said on ESPN Radio's Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin Tuesday. "Because men's college basketball and the tournament ... produces 98% or more of the money for the NCAA - not college football or any other sport.

"We need to have the tournament. We can't have it where two years in a row you don't have the NCAA tournament."

The 2020 edition of the Division I men's basketball tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the first time the event hadn't taken place since its inaugural edition in 1939.

Krzyzewski, who has captured five NCAA championships in his time at Duke, said that no matter the particulars, the 2021 tournament must be played.

"That's where you should start," he said. "Make sure we have the tournament - doesn't make any difference when it is because we don't even know when the NBA season will be next year.

"We should look at them to see how they navigate the waters going forward. They've navigated it really well with the bubble. They don't have the NBA, they have Adam Silver. That's what I'm saying we really need in college basketball."