The NCAA will not crown a men's or women's basketball champion in 2020.

Conceding defeat to the COVID-19 virus and a cascade of uncertainty about how bad its ongoing spread might impact public health across the United States, the NCAA announced Thursday all its winter and spring championships have been canceled after a series of moves across multiple sports leagues that foreshadowed the eventual arrival at this decision.

"Today, NCAA President Mark Emmert and the Board of Governors canceled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships," a statement from the NCAA said. "This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities."

This is the first time a men's champion will not be decided since NCAA postseason play began in 1939, and a first for women since the NCAA took over that tournament in 1981-1982.

Gonzaga men's basketball coach Mark Few was being interviewed on ESPN when the decision was announced. The Bulldogs were expected to be a No. 1 seed when the field was revealed Sunday.

“Extremely, extremely disappointed,” Few said. “I think all of us felt we could postpone, and even postpone into May and if we needed to cancel we could cancel then. But if that’s what they are dong that is what they are doing.”

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Shortly after the NCAA's announcement, the Big Ten announced plans to cancel all spring sports and a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future.

"The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic," a statement from the league said.

"The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus."

Other conferences followed suit by stopping competitions. The Big 12 said all regular season games, recruiting both on and off campus and out-of-season practices are suspended until March 29. The ACC suspended athletic activity until further notice.

The decision by the NCAA came swiftly as teams early in the week preparing to play in conference tournaments across the country ahead of the tournament selection announcement.

Hours after Emmert announced Wednesday that the NCAA tournament games would be held without fans in attendance, the NBA suspended operations after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell was later confirmed as positive, too.

At various points on Wednesday following the NCAA's initial announcement, the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Pac 12, Big 12, American Athletic Conference and several others announced their tournaments would go on with only essential personnel in the arena.

But the NBA's decision followed by the disturbing optics of Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg coaching while ill during the Big Ten tournament started a domino effect of cancelled conference tourneys that led to the NCAA abandoning its initial plan and canceling the postseason.

Though Hoiberg was released from an Indianapolis hospital, according to a social media post from his son, the Nebraska team was kept in its locker room at Bankers Life FieldHouse due to the potential of a positive COVID-19 test.

“Please let it be known that I would never do anything that would put my team, family or anyone else in harm's way,” Hoiberg wrote on Twitter after it was revealed he was suffering from the flu and not the coronavirus.

That situation raised the question of how the NCAA would manage any potential threat with 68 teams in the men's tournament and 64 in the women's event should a player or coach be suspected of contracting the virus.

The decision was made more inevitable when every major conference tournament was cancelled Thursday, including the ACC, Big Ten and Big East.

The 68-team bracket for the men's tournament was to be announced Sunday with play-in games beginning Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio. The women's field was to be announced Monday.