Liberty was the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the ASUN this season, securing 51 of 57 first place votes in the preseason poll media and coaches polls, and once the Flames raced out to a 14-0 and then 19-1 overall record, the ASUN regular season title seemed to be a foregone conclusion.
The only team that appeared to have even the slightest chance at contending was North Florida, but then they limped to a 7-8 non-conference record that included losses to Tennessee State and Austin Peay. Then, the Ospreys were beat at home by NJIT by a dozen, the same NJIT team that Liberty manhandled, 65-38, in Newark.
Many forecasts had Liberty projected to finish 15-1 in league play and UNF finishing around 11-5 or 12-4, and it felt like the Flames might have the regular season title wrapped up by February.
But North Florida has responded with two impressive league wins, defeating Jacksonville on the road and then outlasting Liberty by a single point Thursday night to move into a first place tie with the Flames at 5-1 in conference. With the head-to-head win, UNF owns the tiebreaker and is technically in first place today.
These teams don’t meet again until February 20th in Lynchburg, and will play the majority of the ASUN slate prior to then.
Here’s a look at each team’s schedule the rest of the way:
01/25 Liberty @ Stetson………………….UNF @ Lipscomb
01/30 Liberty vs Kenn. St…………………UNF vs Stetson
02/01 Liberty vs FGCU……………………..UNF vs Kenn. St.
02/06 Liberty @ Jacksonville…………..UNF @ NJIT
02/08 Liberty @ North Al………………..UNF @ FGCU
02/13 ………………………………………………….UNF vs Jacksonville
02/15 Liberty vs NJIT……………………….UNF vs North Al.
02/20 Liberty vs North Fl
02/22 Liberty vs Stetson………………….UNF vs Lipscomb
02/27 Liberty @ Kenn. St………………..UNF @ Stetson
02/29 Liberty @ Lipscomb
KenPom projects Liberty to finish 14-2 in the ASUN and North Florida at 12-4 while Team Rankings projects Liberty to finish 14-2 and North Florida at 12.1-3.9. It could be an interesting next few weeks.
