This week Liberty improved to 12-0 with a win over Vanderbilt, 61-56, on Saturday night, and with the win the Flames have checked in at #19 in the inaugural NET rankings this season and remain in the “others receiving votes” category in the AP Top 25 poll, both released on Monday.
The NET replaced the RPI last season, as it is a key tool the NCAA Selection Committee uses when it selects and seeds teams for the NCAA Tournament. At #19, Liberty is in prime position to have a better seed than last year’s 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the Flames are also in good shape with possibly receiving an at-large bid if needed. Of course, there’s still plenty of basketball to be played.
In the NET rankings, Liberty is the highest rated team from the Commonwealth of Virginia, coming in ahead of #22 Richmond and the defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers who check in at #39. The Flames are also ranked ahead of teams such as Michigan, Villanova, LSU, Michigan State, Texas Tech, Indiana, Georgetown, and Kentucky.
In the AP Top 25, Liberty received 25 votes and is ranked essentially 30th, as 5th in the others receiving votes category. That is up from last week when they had 9 votes and were in 31st place. Liberty received votes from 7 different votes, with Roanoke’s Mark Berman putting the Flames at 15th. Sam Blum #20, Chad Leistikow #23, Dave Borges #24, Carlos Silva, David Cloninger, and Jerry Carino (all #25) all ranked the Flames this week.
NEXT UP for the Flames will be the DC Holiday Hoop fest against Towson this Friday at 5:00 PM. If LU keeps winning it will only be a matter of time before the Flames see their names in the top 25.
Here is the full AP TOP 25.
