Six referees ruled out of NCAA men's tournament due to COVID-19

Stadium basketball insider Jeff Goodman dropped a bombshell of a report on Monday when he explained that six noteworthy referees have been ruled out of the NCAA men's basketball tournament due to at least one positive COVID-19 case. 

"The referees were told to arrive by Sunday night and check into their hotel, but multiple officials said that the rooms weren’t ready upon their arrival, nor was there any food," Goodman wrote. "Instead of having the officials wait in a secure area, they were allowed to leave for dinner and the group of (Ted) Valentine, (John) Higgins, (Roger) Ayers, John Gaffney, Kipp Kissinger and Ray Natili all went to Harry & Izzy’s steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis." 

One of the six ultimately returned three positive coronavirus test results from Sunday through Monday morning. Because the six spent time together unmasked, the Indiana Department of Health ruled them out of the tournament. 

Earlier in the day, UConn announced that women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma tested positive for COVID-19 and won't be able to return to the Huskies until March 24 at the earliest. 

Monday's developments serve as reminders that the upcoming basketball competitions are fragile and could be one wrong action or bit of bad luck away from facing a catastrophe.