McKay on Conference Tournament Format
Conference USA is one of the top mid-major leagues in college basketball. The conference currently ranks as the 9th best league out of 31 Division I conferences according to KenPom. CUSA also has 9 of its 10 members currently sitting in the top 175 nationally. It is a difficult league, and anyone can beat anyone in the conference on any given night as we have seen evidence of throughout the year. Despite how competitive the league is, it is still just a one-bid conference. It has not had multiple teams make the NCAA Tournament over the past 12 seasons and 2025 will be the 13th straight year it has been a one-bid league despite CUSA ranking higher nationally than it has since 2010-11.
This puts incredible pressure on the conference tournament which begins next week in Huntsville, Alabama. There is also very little reward given to regular season success. There is no home court advantage in the conference tournament like so many one-bid leagues have. There is also no significant advantage in how the bracket is put together. The top six teams automatically advance to the quarterfinals while teams that finish 7-10 in the regular season have to play in the first round with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals against either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
“I have a belief that I think you should reward the regular season champion and the second place team at the highest level,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said. “I would much rather have a conference tournament that is like the WCC where their #1 and #2 get byes to the semifinals. I think they’ve earned those. Even to put 7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9 is a disservice to the 1-seed because they have to play the winner of the 8-9 game. I think it should be 9-10 vs 1 and 7-8 vs 2 because, in essence, you’re disadvantaging the 1-seed because they are probably going to play the 8-seed and there are two teams that finished lower than the 8-seed.”
The West Coast Conference awards its top two seeds byes into the semifinals. The 3 and 4 seeds get a bye into the semifinals whereas teams that finish at the bottom of the league, #10 and #11, would have to win six games to win the conference championship. Several other mid-major leagues have done similar things to their tournaments including the Sun Belt and the Southland.
For Liberty, the Flames are in the final week of the regular season and can finish anywhere from the No. 1 seed to the No. 3. There is a bit of an advantage to finishing in the top two because you play a team that has to win a game in the first round before advancing to the quarterfinals, and, if you win your quarterfinal game as the 1 or 2 seed, you get a day off between the Wednesday quarterfinal game and the Friday semifinal round.
“I know the day off seemingly is a big deal,” McKay said. “Our guys have won three games in four days in the Virgin Islands, and we played pretty well on back-to-back nights in Charleston. It is what it is. This time of the year you aren’t worried about saving guys’ legs or anything like that. You are worried about trying to win and advance, whatever happens we will be ready. The only thing I can tell you is we’re going to play against somebody that is really good.”
Free Throw Shooting
It’s no secret that the Flames have struggled to shoot from the free throw line this season. Liberty is currently shooting 65.4% from the charity stripe on the year, which ranks 342nd out of 355 Division I teams. With games in the CUSA Tournament, and likely this week also, expected to be decided in the final minutes, every point is critical including those from the free throw line. We could see teams be more aggressive and open to sending the Flames to the line and make them earn it as we enter the end of the season. That could have been part of Kennesaw State’s plan this past Sunday when Liberty shot a season high 36 free throws, making a season high 27, which was good for 75% on the afternoon (that number would rank 74th nationally).
“I know what the stats say,” said McKay. “I see them. I look at them actually. I know what the percentages are. I also have the benefit of being at practice every day and watching them shoot. I think our guys are going to make them when they need to, and if they don’t, we wouldn’t be the only team in the country that is missing free throws. The more attention is drawn to it, the more the media puts noise to it, our guys read social media, I’m sure, they will go up there and maybe think about what could be a fear that they have.”
Zach Cleveland’s Recent Struggles
Zach Cleveland is one of Liberty’s top players and is likely to be recognized as an all-conference player when those awards come out next week. He leads the team in rebounds and assists while ranking third in points and second in blocks. Coach McKay calls him a five-tool type of player in how he can impact the game in so many ways. Cleveland has struggled offensively recently though. Over the team’s past five games, he is averaging 6.2 points and 3.2 turnovers per game while shooting 32.1% from the field and 41.9% from the free throw line. All of those numbers are down from his season numbers of 10.4 points and 2.5 turnovers per game while shooting 45.9% from the field and 52.4% from three throw line.
“He gets a lot of attention from defenses,” said McKay of Cleveland. “Zach cares little about how many points he scores. I do think he’s drawing some major attention. All players go through some droughts. I think he might be in a little bit of a scoring drought, but that can turn in any game. He knows what he is doing. He has an emotional maturity about him. I trust him. He is a major weapon for us. We will see what happens in the upcoming games.”
