The Liberty Flames (23-5, 11-2 ASUN) are currently in Indianapolis awaiting their assignment in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Flames were the first team to officially punch their ticket into this year’s tournament and have been waiting for a full week to see what the next step in the journey this season is.
Liberty has won the ASUN regular season and tournament title for three straight seasons, winning 82 games in the process, including a first round upset as a 12-seed over 5-seed Mississippi State in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA recently announced it will hold the entire 2021 men’s basketball tournament in the state of Indiana, with the majority of the tournament’s 67 games taking place in Indianapolis. March Madness will be hosted by Ball State, Butler, the Horizon League, Indiana, IUPUI, and Purdue, which are lending their facilities and staffs to assist with tournament operations. The Indiana Convention Center will be used as a practice facility with multiple courts set up inside the venue.
Here’s a roundup of where the Flames are being projected this Selection Sunday morning by several outlets:
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi continues to have Liberty as a 13-seed. This morning, he has the Flames facing 4-seed West Virginia with the winner facing either Creighton or Pac 12 Tournament Champion Oregon State.
The NCAA’s Andy Katz has Liberty in his bracket as a 13-seed, up from a 14-seed in his recent brackets. He has the Flames facing 4-seed Purdue in what would be a rematch from the season opener where the Boilermakers defeated Liberty, 77-64, the only double digit loss Ritchie McKay’s squad has on its resume this season. The winner would then advance to face the winner of Texas Tech and Western Kentucky. He has not updated his bracket since WKU loss in the CUSA title game Saturday night to North Texas in overtime.
CBS Sports has the Flames as a 13-seed and facing 4-seed West Virginia. The winner would then face either UConn or Winthrop. This projection is one of the few that also includes projected sites, with this pod being played at Hinkle Fieldhouse, the home of Butler, in Indianapolis.
Watch Stadium has Liberty as a 14-seed. This projection had the Flames as a 15-seed until the win over Bellarmine a few weeks ago. In this bracket, Liberty is facing 3-seed Arkansas with the winner advancing to play either 6-seed Texas Tech or 11-seed Louisville.
USA Today has Liberty as a 13-seed and playing 4-seed Florida State.
Bracketville has the Flames as a 13-seed and facing 4-seed Virginia.
BracketMatrix.com currently has the Flames as a 13-seed, up from recently being on the 14 line, while being projected into the field by 134 of the bracket projections ranging from an 13 to a 15 seed with an average of 13.31. Of these projections, Liberty is a 13-seed in 94 of them, a 14-seed in 38 brackets, and a 15-seed by just 2.
