Liberty picked up a third straight win last Thursday at Kennesaw State before seeing that win streak snapped Saturday evening at Jacksonville State. The Flames are now 17-5 on the season and 5-4 in conference play. The Flames return home this week to play Louisiana Tech and Sam Houston. The Flames are currently at No. 80 in the updated NET rankings, down from last week’s ranking of No. 77.
Auburn is currently ranked No. 1 in the NET, followed by Duke, Houston, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas, and Purdue to round out the top 10. You can see the entire rankings here.
The Flames continue to be the highest ranked team in CUSA, followed by No. 107 Middle Tennessee, No. 115 Jacksonville State, No. 118 Louisiana Tech, No. 120 Western Kentucky, No. 141 UTEP, No. 160 Kennesaw State, No. 174 New Mexico State, No. 196 Sam Houston, and No. 247 FIU.
Let’s take a look at Liberty’s team sheet, which the Selection Committee started using to pick and seed teams a few years back. Each team’s wins are sorted into four quadrants using their opponent’s NET rankings:
- Quadrant 1: Home 1-30; Neutral 1-50; Away 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75; Neutral 51-100; Away 76-135
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160; Neutral 101-200; Away 136-240
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-plus; Neutral 201-plus; Away 241-plus
Liberty vs Quad 1: 0-0
N/A
Liberty vs Quad 2: 3-2
W, Charleston 68-47
W, McNeese 62-58
W, Kansas State 67-65
L, @ Louisiana Tech 79-74
L, @ Jacksonville State 72-61
Upcoming:
3/6 at Middle Tennessee
3/8 at Western Kentucky
Liberty vs Quad 3: 4-3
W, @ Kennesaw State 76-68
L, UTEP 72-70
W, @ Sam Houston 76-68
W, Middle Tennessee 73-63
L, Western Kentucky 71-70
L, FAU 77-74 OT
W, Seattle U 66-64
Upcoming:
2/6 vs Louisiana Tech
2/13 at New Mexico State
2/15 at UTEP
2/27 vs Jacksonville State
3/2 vs Kennesaw State
Liberty vs Quad 4: 7-0
W, Valpo 83-63
W, Louisiana 89-69
W, MVSU 89-52
W, North Carolina A&T 83-74
W, UT Arlington 79-56
W, New Mexico State 68-60
W, 82-59 at FIU
Upcoming:
2/8 vs Sam Houston
2/22 vs FIU
Based on these ratings (and kenpom, etc.). Liberty will be guaranteed an NIT bid if they do not make the tournament or finish as regular season conference championship.