NCAA 2021 tournament: Six referees withdrawn from March Madness due to COVID-19 protocols

Six of the NCAA’s high profile tournament officials were pulled out of this year’s March madness after a positive COVID-19 test and subsequent contact tracing efforts, sources confirmed to CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. Among those sent home are Ted Valentine, John Higgins, Kipp Kissinger and Roger Ayers.

All four officials place in the top 12 on KenPom’s “Officials Rankings” throughout the season.

The referees were asked to arrive Sunday night to check in at their hotel, and the NCAA has asked to stay there to follow protocols. When they arrived, however, their rooms were not ready and there was no food. They were allowed to leave for dinner, and part of the group went to a steakhouse in Indianapolis together, resulting in some of them being eliminated through contact tracing. It wasn’t until later, when they returned to the hotel and underwent COVID-19 tests, that they discovered that one of the officials had tested positive for the virus.

The NCAA has implemented strict protocols for players, coaches, and staff at this year’s NCAA tournament, including allocated seats for bus rides, to try to prevent contact tracing from failing. clears large swaths of teams and wreaks havoc on the medium. But a positive test for one of the officials who kills some of the most successful referees for the sport’s biggest annual event is a tough pill for the NCAA to swallow as the week is just beginning.