LAS VEGAS β€” The Pac-12 announced Thursday morning that it will cancel the rest of its conference tournaments, and all of its other sporting events, due to coronavirus concerns.

The Pac-12 had announced Wednesday night that all games starting Thursday were to be played without fans. But the Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 all canceled their conference tournaments earlier Thursday and the Pac-12 soon followed suit.

β€œDamn,” Arizona forward Ira Lee tweetedΒ minutes after the Pac-12’s announcement.

Fifth-seeded Arizona was scheduled to face fourth-seeded USC in a game that was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. in a game, after Oregon played Oregon State.Β 

The Pac-12 said the decision "has been made in consultation with our member universities an effort to limit the spread of the virus and in the interest of the health and safety of our student-athletes, campus personnel, working and event personnel, and all those who attend Pac-12 events."

The decision will impact Arizona's scheduled home games against Oregon State in both baseball and softball, and could throw multiple sports into disarray. UA officials announced late Wednesday that it was delaying the start of classes following spring break, and has plans to go online-only as much as possible.Β 

Since the conference tournaments offer the winner an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the move takes away the possibility of lower-rated teams making a surprise move into the field by winning one of them.

If there is an NCAA Tournament, the selection committee is now expected to base nearly all of its picks on regular season play and the few games that have already been played in the conference tournaments. The NCAA has already announced that fans will not be allowed to attend.

After the Wildcats beat Washington in a first-round game Wednesday and the conference first announced fans would no longer be able to attend the tournament games, Arizona senior guard Dylan Smith tweeted that β€œ2020 might be the weirdest year ever.”

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Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at 573-4146 or bpascoe@tucson.com. On Twitter @brucepascoe