Liberty officially punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament over the weekend with the program’s third straight ASUN Tournament Title The Flames defeated North Alabama on Sunday, 79-75, in a game that was closer than some anticipated. Now, we all wait for Selection Sunday this weekend to see where the Flames will play.
The 2021 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament will be unlike any March Madness that has come before. All games will be played in Indiana, with most in Indianapolis. The tournament typically begins with the First Four on the Tuesday and Wednesday following Selection Sunday in Dayton. Those games will now be played on Thursday, March 18 with the first round taking place Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20.
First and second round games will be played on two courts inside Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Most conference tournaments are still to be played this week so there will be plenty of moving parts, but the bracketologists are busy updating their projections daily. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has Liberty as a 13-seed facing 4-seed Kansas. CBS’ Jerry Palm also has the Flames as a 13-seed but facing 4-seed Oklahoma State. Palm has this matchup projected as being played in West Lafayette.
DISTANCE FROM LU TO HOST SITES (normal capacity)
540 miles – Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis (6,500)
541 miles – Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis (20,000)
543 miles – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis (70,000)
544 miles – Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis (9,100)
578 miles – Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington (17,222)
608 miles – Mackey Arena, West Lafayette (14,240)
