Andrew Smith and Liberty earned their first NCAA bid since 2004 (USA Today Sports Images) <\/p>\n
Very few college basketball coaches get even one chance to experience the euphoria of making an out-of-nowhere run to a conference tournament title and an automatic NCAA tournament bid. <\/p>\n
Dale Layer has now accomplished it twice. <\/p>\n
Ten years after Layer's sixth-seeded Colorado State team toppled Wyoming, BYU and UNLV in the Mountain West tournament to earn an improbable NCAA bid, the veteran coach piloted Liberty to a similar feat in the Big South. The Flames became the second 20-loss team to make the NCAA tournament, joining Coppin State's 2008 team on that list by upsetting Charleston Southern 87-76 in Sunday's Big South title game. <\/p>\n
\"Before the tournament started, I shared with my team what we did at Colorado State and I told them that if you keep working, there's always a chance,\" Layer said. \"I think that gave them some hope. When you have some hope, you have some hard work and you have really good kids, it gives you an opportunity to pull something like this off.\" <\/p>\n
To fully appreciate how improbable Liberty's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2004 is, consider how the season began for the Flames. They lost their first eight games and 10 of their first 11, failing to beat a single Division I opponent until Dec. 31 when they snuck past Western Carolina 63-62. <\/p>\n
The start of league play didn't signal a reversal of fortune either considering Liberty went 6-10, finished fifth in its half of the Big South and did not even manage a single two-game win streak. Some early injuries and the loss of standout forward Antwan Burrus for the season put Liberty so far behind in its preparation and cohesiveness that it took the Flames almost the full season to catch up. <\/p>\n
\"It was really difficult,\" Layer said. \"We came out of the chute losing eight straight, our best returning player never played a minute and we had a time early when we had three starters out. In January, I thought we were playing November basketball, in February, I thought we were playing January basketball and I thought 10 days ago we were getting closer to where we needed to be.\" <\/p>\n
Despite that incremental improvement, even Layer considered his team a long shot entering the Big South tournament, especially since the Flames' draw wasn't exactly favorable. <\/p>\n
[Related: Injured Saint Mary's forward creeps out his coach] <\/p>\n
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Ticket Punched: Liberty becomes second 20-loss team ever to secure NCAA bid<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andrew Smith and Liberty earned their first NCAA bid since 2004 (USA Today Sports Images) Very few college basketball coaches get even one chance to experience the euphoria of making an out-of-nowhere run to a conference tournament title and an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Dale Layer has now accomplished it twice Continue reading