Oregon advances after VCU pulled from tourney due to COVID-19 protocols

VCU is out of the NCAA Tournament due to COVID-19 protocols, with the Rams' Saturday evening game against Oregon declared a no-contest, the NCAA announced.

The Ducks will advance to the Round of 32 on Monday and face the winner of Saturday's matchup between Iowa and Grand Canyon.

"The NCAA and the committee regret that VCU's student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate," the association said in a statement. "Because of privacy issues we cannot provide further details."

VCU head coach Mike Rhoades revealed multiple personnel tested positive for COVID-19 and suggested the team is unaware of the source of the outbreak.

"We've been tested every day for the past three weeks, but within the past 48 hours we've received multiple positive tests," Rhoades told ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

VCU registered three positive tests, with the first appearing Wednesday evening, a source told Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. They are reportedly the first positive tests within the Rams' squad since the summer.

Some within the program believe the Dayton Marriott hotel, which housed VCU, St. Bonaventure, and the referees for the Atlantic 10 Tournament final on Sunday, may have contributed to the team's COVID-19 outbreak, Norlander reports.

"There was some (other) event there," a source told Norlander. "There were kids, parents, and people with differences of opinion (about COVID-19) and the hotel staff - I witnessed the ladies at the check-in yelling to people walking through the lobby about putting their masks on."

However, the Atlantic 10 rebuffed the notion that the hotel was to blame.

"A-10 teams were all in the same hotel," league spokesperson Drew Dickerson said in a statement. "The teams all had dedicated floors separate from each other and separate from the public. The officials did as well.

"There was no mingling with teams; teams had dedicated meeting rooms that were separate from everyone else and separate from each other."

Saturday marks the first time that the NCAA has canceled an individual game in the national tournament due to COVID-19 concerns. The organization is attempting to carry out its marquee event amid the pandemic this year after canceling the 2020 tourney outright.