Liberty claims first tournament berth of 2021 as opponent is ineligible originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
By all accounts, the Liberty Flames were well on their way to winning their way to making it back to the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. It would have been three had the tournament not been canceled from the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Winning the Atlantic Sun regular-season title for their third season in as many years in the conference, where no one was expecting to knock off the Flames. As the No. 1 seed again in the conference tournament, Liberty convincingly finished off their semifinal match on Friday. Only one game standing in the way from their third A-Sun tournament title in as many seasons.
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
What's different this time, is that the Flames don't have to win their conference tournament title to make the NCAA Tournament this year. It's not because they have done enough to earn an at-large bid into March Madness, it's because their opponent is not eligible to compete in the NCAA's postseason tournaments.
North Alabama, the fifth seed in the conference's tournament, rattled off back-to-back upsets to make the championship game against the Flames. However, the Lions are currently in the midst of a transition from Division II competition to Division I. As a result of the four-year reclassification, Northern Alabam is not allowed to play in the NCAA Tournament or the NIT this season. Even if Northern Alabama wins the A-Sun title on Sunday, Liberty has earned the conference's automatic berth.
Under normal circumstances, that is not typically an issue. Div. II programs making the transition to Div. I often take a couple of seasons to get acquainted with that level of competition, much less competing for titles. That has not been an obstacle, though, for the Lions as they earned themselves a winning record for the first time in their three years of transition.
Oddly enough, they are not the only transitioning Div. I program that was in the Atlantic Sun Tournament.
Bellarmine, the No. 2 seed, wrapped up their first season of changing their division status as well. The Div. II power that had made four DII Final Fours over the past decade surely could find success in Div. I in due time. Just maybe not this quickly.
The Knights entered the tournament this week as the biggest threat to knock off the two-time defending champions. Immediately, they were upset by the No. 7 Stetson Hatters in the first round, preventing a potentially awkward situation down the line of two transitioning schools meeting in the championship game.
Liberty gets to celebrate their ticket punching a little early this year, doing so without a trophy or net cutting.. yet. They'll get a day off to prepare for the Lions before the two square off on Sunday for the A-Sun title at 2:00 on ESPN.
Northern Alabama may not be playing for an NCAA Tournament bid, but a trophy and bragging rights are all they need.
At least the reclassification is projecting well for the Lions when they'll finally be able to compete in March during the 2022-23 season.
