Best Liberty Basketball Team: Elite 8

We unveiled Sunday evening our bracket for the Best Liberty Basketball of all-time as we ranked the top 16 teams. This will be decided by you as you have the ability to vote here, and on all of our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

Each round will last 24 hours.

Elite 8 voting starts now.
Final 4 will be finalized and voting will begin Tuesday evening.
Championship will be finalized and voting will begin Wednesday evening.
The champion will be crowned Thursday evening.

Sweet 16 recap:

#1 2020 throttles #16 1986, with over 96% of the votes. Surely those votes cast for #16 were out of pity.

#2 2019 beat #15 1985, also with over 96% of the votes. Again, sympathy votes for the underdog in play here.

#3 1997 took care of #14 1996, with just over 72% of the votes. Pretty easy win.

#4 1994 narrowly squeaked by #13 2013, winning with just 57.9% of the votes. Very close to the 2013 team doing what they’re known for and pulling off the upset, but 1994 pulled away in the final hours.

In our only upset of the first round, #12 2011 knocked off #5 2004 by the narrowest of margins, winning by just 7 votes. Recency bias. That 2004 team made the NCAA Tournament while the 2011 team lost in the first round of the Big South Tournament.

#6 2009 defeated #11 1992, with just over 71% of the votes.

#7 2018 walloped #10 1983, with nearly 90% of the votes. Perhaps these two teams were seeded poorly. Blame the Selection Committee.

#8 2017 didn’t have much trouble with #9 1980 winning with 80% of the votes.

8 teams remaining resume’s:

1. 2020

30-4 overall, 13-3 ASUN
ASUN co-regular season champs
ASUN Tournament champs
Wins over Vanderbilt, Akron
Starters: Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, Darius McGhee, Elijah Cuffee, Caleb Homesley, Scottie James

2. 2019

29-7 overall, 14-2 ASUN
ASUN co-regular season champs
ASUN Tournament champs
Defeated 5-seed Miss St in NCAA Tournament
Defeated Lipscomb on road in ASUN Championship
Win over UCLA
Starters: Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, Lovell Cabbil, Elijah Cuffee, Caleb Homesley, Scottie James

3. 1997

23-9 overall, 11-3 Big South
Big South co-regular season champs
Lost to Charleston Southern in Big South Conference Championship game
Starters: Marcus White, Larry Jackson, Peter Aluma, Mark Reed, Erik Sorensen

4. 1994

18-12 overall, 12-6 Big South
Big South Tournament champs
Advanced to program’s first ever NCAA Tournament
Lost to 1-seed North Carolina in Big Dance
Starters: Matt Hildebrand, Chris Toomer, Jason Dixon, Darryl Williams, Jody Chapman

6. 2009

23-12 overall, 12-6 Big South
Wins over Virginia, George Mason, William & Mary
Lost to VMI in Big South Tournament Semis
Advanced to CIT, lost in 2nd game
Starters: Jesse Sanders, Seth Curry, Anthony Smith, Kyle Ohman, Brolin Floyd

7. 2018

22-15 overall, 9-9 Big South
Lost to Radford in Big South Tournament Championship game
Advanced to CIT, lost in 3rd game
Wins over Wake Forest & Georgia State
Starters: Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, Lovell Cabbil, Elijah Cuffee, Ryan Kemrite, Scottie James

8. 2017

21-14 overall, 14-4 Big South
Upset by Radford in Big South quarterfinals
Advanced to CIT, lost in 3rd game
Starters: Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz, Lovell Cabbil, John Dawson, Ryan Kemrite, Myo Baxter-Bell

12. 2011

19-13 overall, 13-5 Big South
Upset by High Point in Big South quarterfinals
Starters: Jesse Sanders, Evan Gordon, John Brown, David Minaya, Joel VanderPol

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