Report: Men's NCAA Tournament Field Set, Louisville Not Contacted as Replacement

The 68-team field for the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament has officially been locked, meaning that no potential replacement teams will take over spots for schools with positive COVID-19 tests.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports provided more information:

"The 6 p.m. deadline for replacement teams has come and gone. Louisville has not been contacted, per a source, meaning the bracket is now locked. NCAA will not be putting out a statement tonight; this will be official tomorrow when Dan Gavitt briefs the media on a Zoom call.

"Virginia (and all teams) are not yet in the clear, though, of course. Keep in mind teams need to continue to produce negative tests in order to avoid potential contact-tracing pitfalls. UVA is still not in Indianapolis; its players won't leave quarantine until Thursday."

The NCAA outlined an official team replacement policy in advance of the tournament on Feb. 25.

Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Ole Miss were on standby, in that order, in case up to four teams with at-large bids needed to drop out.

If a team from a single-bid conference needed to leave, then the runner-up from that league would be invited to participate provided it could show seven consecutive days of negative testing.

Per the NCAA, the deadline for replacement teams was at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday. At this juncture, if a team needs to drop out because of COVID-19 issues, then its opponent will advance to the next round via the no-contest rule.

Kansas and Virginia, who are in the NCAA tournament field, were forced to drop out of their respective conference tournaments because of positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within their programs.

As of now, both are scheduled to play Saturday against Eastern Washington and Ohio, respectively. However, as Norlander noted, UVA players are still in quarantine until Thursday. The Cavaliers are scheduled to face the Bobcats on Saturday.

Per Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the NCAA found five positive tests among 2,300 Tier 1, 2 or 3 personnel who arrived in Indianapolis, where the tournament is primarily being held (other locations are elsewhere in Indiana). Rothstein clarified that it shouldn't be assumed the five positive tests were from players or coaches.

The tournament is officially slated to kick off with the First Four round on Thursday. Texas Southern and Mount St. Mary's will begin a four-game slate at 5:10 p.m. ET.