(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)(AP) – The biggest unknown leading into a March Madness bracket reveal more than a year in the making had little to do with bubble teams or top seeds. “There were a lot of different things about this year's selection process,” said committee chairman Mitch Barnhart, the athletic director at Kentucky. But all it takes is a single COVID outbreak to upend the finely calibrated beauty of that plan. Like Virginia and Kansas, Duke pulled out of its conference tournament last week because of COVID-19. Players will have to produce negative tests for seven days before arriving in Indianapolis to be eligible to play.

The Hoyas are back in the Big East Tournament semifinals for the first time in six years, with the former Georgetown and Knicks star leading the way. Georgetown last reached the Big East semifinals in 2015. “We played against the Cadillac, the Bentley, whatever you want to call them, of the Big East — the class of the Big East. The quarterfinal day at the Garden is often the best of the Big East Tournament. They had not won even a single Big East Tournament game since 2016 before beating Marquette in the first round Wednesday.