Liberty stunned the rest of the Big South by ripping through the conference tournament, knocking off the top three seeds and winning an unexpected title. The Flames were the fifth seed in the North, and the ninth-best team in the league. They didn’t just crash the Big Dance, they kidnapped the DJ, set the drapes on fire and drank all the jungle juice.
With that said, here are five things you probably didn’t know about the school in Lynchburg, Virginia:
1. It is the largest evangelical university in the world. Incredibly, it’s also the largest university in Virginia, and the largest non-profit university in the U.S. The main reason for this is because Liberty boasts one of the most expansive online curriculums in the world. More than 60,000 students take courses online at Liberty. Only 13,000-plus actually live on campus.
2. Stephen Curry’s brother played there. Current Duke star Seth Curry began his career at Liberty, averaging 20 points per game as a freshman and thoroughly dominating everyone in the Big South.Curry decided to transfer to Duke the following season, because clearly, he didn’t belong in the Big South. The decision has worked out pretty well for him, as he’s now averaging 17 points per game for one of the top teams in the country.
3. It has a giant fake mountain you can ski on. It’s called Snowflex, and it’s a year-round haven for skiing, snowboarding and tubing. Located on top of Liberty’s 5,000-acre mountain (who knew there were real mountains in Virginia?), Snowflex has all kinds of slopes, and even has a snowboard quarter-pipe.
4. They were awful during the regular season. Liberty started off the year by losing its first eight games, including an 84-42 thrashing at Richmond in the opener. The Flames only went 15-20, and 6-10 in the Big South before turning it on in the conference tournament and winning four games in four days. Now, because they balled out at the right time, they’re going to the NCAA Tournament. You’ve gotta love March Madness.
5. This team will be playing in the First Four in Dayton. There’s almost no doubt, unless the last-place teams in the SWAC and Sun Belt win their respective tournaments. It could, however, set up an interesting first round matchup if top-seeded Duke meets 16-seed Liberty in the “second” round.
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NCAA Tournament Teams Five Facts Index
Kels Dayton is a freelance writer whose work has also appeared in SLAM Magazine. You can check out more of his work at RoundballDaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoundballDaily.