Sign up for our special edition newsletter to get a daily update on the coronavirus pandemic.

Two big voices are calling on the NCAA to stop March Madness 2020.

Charles Barkley and Jay Bilas both called on decision-makers to shut down or postpone the tournament Thursday morning as the spread of coronavirus hits the country.

“I’m going to say this, and I’m probably going to get in trouble, because I work for Turner and March Madness and CBS, I think Turner Sports and CBS gotta close down March Madness, man,” Barkley, a TNT analyst who is part of CBS’ coverage of the tournament, said on ESPN’s “Get Up.”

“You can’t have these players — even if there’s no fans in the stadium — you can’t have these players breathing on each other for two weeks. Even if they’re at a hotel, they’re going to be at different cities around the country. I hate to say it — I probably shouldn’t say it because I work for CBS — I think we’re going to shut down March Madness until we know more.”

The NBA made the decision to suspend its season Wednesday night after Jazz center Rudy Gobert reportedly tested positive for coronavirus. Gobert’s teammate, Donovan Mitchell, has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Before that stunning decision, the NCAA announced it would have no fans at March Madness games this year, but Bilas is pushing for the other shoe to drop. It is ultimately the NCAA’s decision, not the networks’, whether or not to cancel the three-week college hoops extravaganza.

“If I am the NCAA president, you postpone the NCAA tournament or cancel it altogether,” Bilas, ESPN’s top college basketball analyst, told USA TODAY Sports. “This is worldwide pandemic and something that could overwhelm our healthcare system. This is bigger than basketball, bigger than sports. I just don’t see how we play. If we do, I’d like to hear someone make a case for why.

“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t play a conference tournament.”

The conference tournaments were later canceled as Thursday went on.

“It was an intermediate step to prepare to play the tournament with no fans, and the NCAA still has time,” Bilas said, “but the NBA has suspended play and colleges have cancelled classes. And you’re going to have players from the same schools play in a tournament? It’s hard to argue that’s for athlete welfare if it does happen. The whole idea of playing is a hard optical sell right now.”

While some would argue cancelling the NCAA Tournament would be a crushing blow to the players involved, the potential risks outweigh the rewards, according to Barkley.

“I don’t think that’s a problem,” Barkley said. “I think my company gotta bite the bullet. I know the kids want to play, but we can’t have these kids — these kids are sweating, breathing, leaning on each other. That’s crazy. Even if you lose, you go back home, you don’t know if you got the virus for a week or two.”

In 2010, CBS and TNT paid $10.8 billion for broadcasting rights to the NCAA tournament from 2010-2024, per Inside Higher Ed. In 2016, they extended that deal through 2032 for $8.8 billion.

But Bilas said the responsibility is on NCAA president Mark Emmert to take action now before it’s too late.

“When he put out his statement Wednesday, he said ‘I made the decision’ to host games without fans. That means (Emmert) has the power to cancel or postpone games, too,” Bilas said. “There are a lot of important concerns and no one is minimizing those concerns. Healthcare officials have made it clear that this is a pandemic. But the move is not to panic. It’s to take action in light of.”