Ritchie McKay, Liberty16 February 2013: Virginia assistant coach Ritchie McKay. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels played the University of Virginia Cavaliers at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in a 2012-2013 NCAA Division I and Atlantic Coast Conference men's college basketball game. UNC won the game 93-81.

With the ASUN’s second-best team on the ineligible list, does anyone else have a chance to snuff out the red-hot Liberty Flames?

Liberty is the ASUN champion and will be the No. 1 seed in the ASUN Tournament, thanks to their 94-78 rout of Bellarmine in the regular-season finale — a series which was not originally supposed to be played in Freedom Hall. It is the Flames’ third-straight ASUN regular-season title, and the first one that coach Ritchie McKay doesn’t have to share with anyone else. As for Bellarmine, the Knights came oh so close to winning the ASUN in their first season as a Division I program, but now they’ll slide into the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Some interesting ASUN Tournament quirks:

  • Even though transitional teams such as Bellarmine and North Alabama cannot participate in the NCAA Tournament, they will still play in the ASUN tourney. League rules stipulate that the regular-season champion (i.e., Liberty) will receive the automatic bid if a transitioning program wins the tournament.
  • Jacksonville will not be participating in the event due to COVID-19 issues.
  • Florida Gulf Coast had been on pause, but returned to action on Friday, Feb. 26. At the moment, they are expected to play in the ASUN Tournament.

With all that noted, let’s look a little deeper into the ASUN.

Conference tournament portal
Bracketology | Bubble watch

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Andy Dieckhoff
Andy Dieckhoff

Writer/Editor, Heat Check CBB
Creator, The DPI Gradebook

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