Reports: Richmond, VCU to host A-10 men's basketball tournament originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The 2021 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament will be played in Richmond, Va on the campuses of VCU and the University of Richmond according to multiple reports.
Matt Norlander from CBS Sports was the first to break the news.
Earlier this year, the league decided to move the tournament away from the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, NY due to the coronavirus pandemic. Without fans (or even limited fans) permitted to attend, there is little incentive to play the tournament at a large venue.
Richmond is an ideal location for the fact that they have two schools in close proximity to one another to allow games to be split at two venues. Given concerns with the virus, spreading out start times for the games and keeping teams separated are of the utmost focus.
Philadelphia, with La Salle and Saint Joseph's, would likely have been another city with similar benefits.
The tournament will be held from March 10-14 where the automatic bid will be given to the conference champion. It is unknown if fans will be allowed to attend. Currently, the state of Virginia allows for 250 patrons to attend sporting events. Most schools have used that to give tickets to families and top season tickets holders.
Both the Spiders and the Rams have good shots at winning the conference tournament. As of this writing they are each in a tie for third place in the conference standings with a 4-2 league record. This year will mark the first time since the 2003-04 season that the men's championship was held on a campus site.
