Liberty is currently 19-3 overall and 11-0 in CUSA after extending their current winning streak to 13 games with a win at Delaware. With a strong season so far, the Flames have put themselves in good position in terms of Bracketology and where Liberty could be seeded if they reach the Big Dance. Of course, CUSA is a one-bid league and the only team that will advance to the NCAA Tournament is whoever wins three (or four) games in Huntsville in March, but Liberty is certainly one of the teams in the mix to represent the conference on that stage.
BracketMatrix does a great job of compiling everyone who makes bracket projections into one location. Currently, BracketMatrix has 105 bracket projections included in their listing. Liberty represents CUSA in 104 of those brackets, receiving either a 12 or 13-seed in those projections with an average seed of 12.11.
Here’s a roundup of where the Flames are being projected to play in the NCAA Tournament by several outlets:
- Haslametrics has Liberty as a 12-seed in their projection.
- Team Rankings has Liberty with a 33% chance of making the tournament, the highest odds of any CUSA team and the Flames earning a 12-seed. Sam Houston is the next most likely from CUSA, currently at a 21% chance.
- On3Sports has Liberty in the field as a 12-seed against 5-seed Tennessee in Tampa.
- Blogging the Bracket has Liberty in as a 12-seed against 5-seed Saint Louis in Tampa.
Here is what some of the other more popular bracketologists are projecting for Conference USA currently (note: many of these simply take whoever is in first place in the standings of the one-bid leagues and don’t make projections as to who they think will win the auto-bid):
- ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Liberty representing CUSA as a 12-seed against 5-seed Tennessee in San Diego.
- Mike Decourcy of Fox Sports currently has Liberty as a 12-seed against 5-seed Tennessee.
- The Field of 68 has Liberty as a 12-seed playing 5-seed North Carolina.
- Andy Katz currently has Liberty as a 12-seed and facing 5-seed Alabama.
