When the Pac-12 Conference pulled the plug on sports for fall 2020 on Tuesday, the move spoke to a lot more than just football.

It also contained one of the first and loudest declarations of any conference about the intent to protect enough of the basketball season in which to hold the NCAA Tournament in 2021.

Packaged amid the postponement of football, volleyball, soccer, etc. was the notification that the Pac-12 schools members would not begin basketball competition until January, at the earliest.

Locally, that meant no Nov. 11 Rainbow Classic season opener against Washington State for the University of Hawaii men, no Stanford appearance in the Nov. 23-25 Maui Invitational and no Arizona State participation in the Dec. 22, 23 and 25 Diamond Head Classic. And no Pac-12 stops on the Rainbow Wahine’s annual November road swing. If, indeed, any of those events even take place.

If there was any confusion about why the Pac-12 was clearing the slate so early and so completely, it was cleared up on Friday by Dan Gavitt, NCAA Senior Vice President of Men’s Basketball.

Gavitt is for basketball what the NCAA doesn’t have for football, the closest thing to a commissioner, and he pledged, “We are going to have a tournament.”

Not maybe. Not hopefully, but “going to have.”

Gavitt said, “We’ll be flexible. We’ll be nimble, and we’ll deliver what the country is desperately looking for again, and that’s just an incredible March Madness tournament in 2021.

“It’s going to be special. We have our preferences about how we’d like to have it be, but if we have to adjust to the virus, which we don’t control, we will adjust accordingly,” Gavitt said. “The health and safety of the players and the coaches and all the people around the games — the referees and fans — will be primary. But ultimately it will also include determining a national champion in the fairest and most equitable way that we can under these unusual circumstances.”

Now, as we have seen the last few weeks, the NCAA won’t lift much of a finger to facilitate uniformity in the Football Bowl Subdivision or the integrity of the College Football Playoff, but it will move heaven and earth to hold the NCAA basketball tournaments.

That’s because the NCAA Tournament, the men’s especially, hits close to home. Not only is the 2021 Final Four scheduled for Indianapolis (April 3-5), where the NCAA has its headquarters, it is also far and away the largest source of income for the NCAA.

Unlike the CFP, which is not run by the NCAA and for which the association does not receive rights fees, the basketball tournaments are the NCAA’s bread and butter. More than 90% of the NCAA’s revenue is derived from the tournaments and their appendage, the National Invitation Tournament.

TV deals with CBS and Turner are worth $1.1 billion annually. Some of that goes to run headquarters and pay the salaries of its president, Mark Emmert ($3.9 million), and administrators.

The largest chunk — $610,577,771 — is divided among participating conferences and their members. When the tournament is played, that is.

This year, with the cancellation, members got a little more than 33 cents on the dollar and 2021 will be bleaker if there is no tournament.

Whether colleges begin their basketball seasons in November, December, January or February, be assured they and the NCAA will do everything to hold a tournament, even if it means May Madness.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.