Liberty hosts VMI tonight at the Vines Center.

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Lineups first:

VMI (7-12, 2-7 Big South)
Adam Lonon (G, 5-11, 175)  4.2 ppg/2.1 rpg
Austin Kenon (G, 5-11, 180)  17.6/3.2
Ron Burks (F, 6-4, 215)  12.2/6.3
Keith Gabriel (G, 6-3, 180)  17.1/3.7
Stephen Sargent (C, 7-0, 245)  3.1/3.8

LIBERTY (10-11, 5-4)
Jesse Sanders (G, 6-3, 200)  7.0/6.2
Evan Gordon (G, 6-2, 185)  11.3/4.3
Jeremy Anderson (G, 6-4, 200)  5.8/1.8
Patrick Konan (F, 6-5, 205)  6.8/4.4
Antwan Burrus (F, 6-6, 210)  5.9/3.4

First, I never got around to posting my Top 25 ballot from this week. Here it is:

1. Kentucky
2. Kansas
3. Villanova
4. Syracuse
5. Texas
6. Michigan State
7. Duke
8. BYU
9. Purdue
10. Georgetown
11. Gonzaga
12. Tennessee
13. Kansas State
14. West Virginia
15. Temple
16. Pittsburgh
17. Wisconsin
18. Mississippi
19. Vanderbilt
20. Butler
21. Wake Forest
22. Connecticut
23. Florida State
24. Northern Iowa
25. UAB

* Not sure why Georgia Tech was still ranked ahead of Florida State. (Yes, I know FSU lost to Duke, but the vote was turned in Sunday evening.) Florida State has beaten Georgia Tech twice. Yes, Tech beat Duke and won at UNC, but winning at UNC isn’t nearly as difficult as it has been in the past. FSU had a pretty good home win over Virginia Tech, too.

* If BYU drops more than a spot or two this week after the loss to New Mexico, it’s criminal. The Pit is a very difficult place to play, and the Mountain West—top to bottom—is a much better league than its power-conference bretheren out West, the Pac-10. BYU could not—and should not—have been expected to roll through that conference unfettered.

* My early inkling on a new No. 1—it’s Kansas. Unless the Jayhawks lose to K-State in the Little Apple Saturday. Then it’s Villanova.

* Temple losing at Charlotte last night was not an upset. Charlotte’s a pretty good team.

* Connecticut will be out again after losing to Providence.

OK, notes/thoughts on this game:

* There were some grumblings that Kyle Ohman might try to come back and play tonight. Not true. He still hasn’t practiced, and I’m hearing he’s a 50-50 shot at best to be ready for the Winthrop game next Thursday.

* VMI coach Duggar Baucom always has something interesting up his sleeve for the second meeting between these teams. Last year, he busted out the tandem-and-two defense against Seth Curry and Anthony Smith and the Keydets ran the Flames off the floor here. There will be no need for something like that tonight because Liberty doesn’t have a single dominant scorer on the floor with Ohman out. I could see Baucom really trying to test Liberty’s depth by running the Keydets even more up-tempo than usual. We shall see.

* Weird series. Liberty has won four straight in Lexington. VMI has won three of the last four in Lynchburg.

* VMI came down to Lynchburg Wednesday and treated this like a normal road trip, interesting since the Institute is about an hour away from here. (Or an hour and a half if you get stuck behind semis and tourists on U.S. 501).

* One thing that’s impressed me of late on Liberty’s end is the off-the-dribble play by forward Patrick Konan. He’s shown an ability to drive and score off the bounce, something we (at least I) didn’t really see early in the year.

* Konan got off to a terrible start in the game in Lexington and wasn’t a factor. Nor was Carter McMasters. Both will have to be a factor tonight if the Flames want to win.

* Stan Okoye was a non-factor in that game for the Keydets, but a lot has changed since then. He’s played like a beast of late, recording at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in five straight games. He should add an element of toughness that was missing for VMI in the first game.

* Austin Kenon had been really struggling from 3-point range for VMI before his 4-for-7 showing against Southern Virginia Tuesday. In the Keydets’ previous five games, he had gone 6-for-35 from 3.

* That’s it for now. Quick weekend story promo: Look for a piece in the Sunday dead tree N&A exploring the connection between Liberty and the Homeschool Christian Youth Association (HYCA), a Houston team that produced Liberty’s Jesse Sanders, Rachel McLeod and Emily Frazier.