Big Ten to allow limited number of fans at conference tournament

The Wisconsin basketball team will play in front of fans at next week’s Big Ten Tournament.

The conference announced Thursday morning that the Marion County Heath Department had agreed to allow up to 8,000 fans inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for games. The first round gets underway March 10 and a champion will be crowned March 14.

In an email sent after the announcement, Wisconsin said it would offer its allotment of tickets to donors and season-ticket holders over the next two days on a first-come, first-served basis.

The 2020 tournament lasted all of two games before it, along with nearly every other sporting event in the country, was canceled at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s tournament was supposed to be in Chicago but was moved to Indy because the conference felt it was better setup to handle the restrictions that will be in place. The tournament will serve as a bit of a dry run for the NCAA Tournament that will be held in its entirety in Indianapolis and the surrounding areas beginning the following week.

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