Due to the 2020 NCAA tournament being canceled because of Covid-19, virtual version of the games are being played and streamed on Youtube. Derek Howard and BonaCommenter (who commonly goes by his Twitter handle) created a podcast dedicated to Bonnies and Atlantic 10 hoops. The duo then decided to simulate the basketball games in a video game and streamed it, finally deciding on the name “Quarantourney”. Fans reportedly asked if they could simulate other big conference tournaments like the Big Ten and SEC, but they turned down those suggestions.
Howard, BonaCommenter, and Evan Provost manually put the ratings, tendencies, team uniforms, arenas, courts, logos, and even playlist of school fight songs into the game after a tedious 100 hours. The only challenge that the team claimed they faced was not being able to predict the actual line up and rotations that happen in the real basketball games. They even created a 41-minute selection show for teams that did not make the tournament. The only difference between other simulation games and the “Quarantourney” is that they stream live according to the actual dates for the games.
There plan to be 67 games, including the “First Four”. Four YouTube channels were set up for the live simulations, along with fifth channel being the “buzzer-beater” channel, similar to the NFL Red Zone. There are, however, some unavoidable issues such as four 10-minute quarters, the shot clock being 24 seconds, and sometimes random NBA logos can be seen. “Ours is definitely the most involved and accurate live simulation out there,” Howard said towards the end of their most recent game. And yes, there even is a bracket challenge to go along with this simulation (along with betting pools).
Currently, the No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners pulled out a win from the No. 8 Providence Friars in an overtime score of 94-87. No. 1 seed Dayton is set to play against No.16 Boston University Friday at 1 p.m Eastern on March2K20 Channel 1. Dayton is a 22.5 point favorite, and after that, there will be 15 more games.