The Big 12, Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12, SEC, Big East, American Athletic Conference, Atlantic 10, Southland and Conference USA basketball tournaments will proceed without fans in attendance beginning with Thursday's games, following the lead of the NCAA tournament in barring anybody but family and essential personnel.
The Big 12 and Big Ten started Wednesday's tournament games with fans in attendance, and the ACC men's tournament started Tuesday in Greensboro, North Carolina. The women's ACC tournament is over.
The ACC announced its decision in a statement Wednesday evening. That came late on the second day of the five-day event, after fans had attended four full games and half of the Boston College-Notre Dame game at Greensboro Coliseum.
The conference cited the "rapidly changing landscape regarding COVID-19,'' saying games would be played only with teams, player guests, limited school administrators and credentialed media present.
Thursday's quarterfinal games are the first to feature the top seeds in No. 4 Florida State, No. 10 Duke, No. 15 Louisville and No. 17 Virginia.
The Pac-12 men's basketball tournament, which was underway Wednesday in Las Vegas, will proceed with only essential staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and limited family and friends in attendance. The conference said that similar limited fan policies will "apply to all Pac-12 sport competitions and Pac-12 Championship events until further notice."
The SEC will also play the remainder of its men's basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, without fans. Similar attendance restrictions will be in effect for all other regular-season events on its campuses and other league championships through at least March 30.
"We regret the inconvenience and disappointment this decision has caused our fans, especially those who have already traveled to Nashville for the tournament,'' SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.
The Big East followed suit with an announcement that the remainder of its men's basketball tournament, which continues through Saturday at New York's Madison Square Garden, will be played under a restricted attendance policy.
The Atlantic 10 tournament, which ends Sunday, will also continue without spectators at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Dayton, the No. 1 seed, does not play until Friday.
The Southland men's tournament started Wednesday, with the women's event scheduled to begin Thursday, both in Katy, Texas.
"While this announcement creates considerable inconvenience for many fans, these measures are being taken with the health and well-being of the tournament's participants in mind, including student-athletes and coaches," Southland commissioner Tom Burnett said in a statement. "This is of the utmost importance as we're seeing similar issues across the country with other sporting events, including the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships in the coming weeks. The Southland will continue to monitor and to take necessary precautions through the weeks ahead as other competition and championship events are scheduled."
Conference USA said it would close the remainder of its tournaments to the general public.
The AAC men's basketball tournament, slated to begin Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, has also banned fans from all games.
In Kansas City, Missouri, the crowd booed loudly late in the Big 12 first-round game between Iowa State and Oklahoma State when the public-address announcer read a prepared statement on the tournament being played without fans beginning with the quarterfinal round Thursday.
The league made the decision shortly before tipoff of Wednesday night's game. It had considered barring fans from the first-round games, including a nightcap between TCU and Kansas State, before deciding that such a decision made so close to the start of the games would have caused more harm than help.
The quartet of games Thursday will be played with only university staff members, 125 friends and family from each team, credentialed media and essential arena employees. Pep bands, cheerleaders and dance teams will not be allowed.
The Big 12 policy also will be in place for its women's tournament, which begins Thursday night in Kansas City.
"The attempt is to absolutely minimize the number of people here but still find a way to conduct events and actually get the opportunity to play games," Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said.
At the Big Ten tourney in Indianapolis, attendance starting Thursday will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media and immediate family members of the participating teams.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.