it's just gonna play out like football. there will be games. most of them won't have fans beyond and couple hundred family, friends, band, cheerleaders. some will get cancelled. it may only impact some teams a couple times, but it might wipe away half the season for others. a couple leagues probably won't play until next semester if the public health emergency isn't under more control. not going deep on the politics of this but the fact is if the hospitals are full of sick people and even the modestly infected can be superspreaders for a few days in crowded indoor spaces it is challenging to have uniform safe policies for team sports and games.

what makes sense is not to rush from conference tournaments to the national tourneys. there's a decent chance the virus will be in decline by then and there's a chance to do some late season tournaments organized by ranking. say a few weeks of regional tournaments where everyone plays and has a chance to do something memorable, while replacing to a degree the first 3 weeks of the season and the expected covid cancellations. i.e. an indiana-kentucky crossover tournament where the top 8 teams are in one regional (for example: louisville, kentucky, indiana, purdue, butler, western kentucky, northern kentucky, notre dame). and 8 lower ranked teams are in a separate one (ball st, valpo, indiana st, murray state, e kentucky, evansville, morehead st, iupui). 2 weeks later do a kentucky-ohio-michigan version with 5 or 6 teams from each state in a 2 level regional tournament. meanwhile, any teams who have had recent covid exposure or outbreaks can isolate during this period and prepare for the post-season. then, you seed and announce the tournament fields and you put some money into the cbi or something to make it a national tournament for everyone not invited to the dance or NIT. with some creative thinking and working around realistic expectations of managing the virus it will be a better season.