The 2021-22 college athletics season is well in the rear view mirror, and, with the calendar shifting towards late July, attention is quickly moving towards the 2022-23 athletic season as several fall sports get underway in August.
This past year, Liberty continued to make strides to being a premier athletic program nationally. The Flames boasted a No. 74 finish in the Directors’ Cup, marking the second best finish in school history. Liberty was the ASUN All-Sports Champion, earning the distinction for the 16th time in the past 25 years. The Flames had eight conference champions, spotlighted by field hockey’s Big East championship and run to the National Championship game where they finished as runner-up.
As we begin to look to 2022-23, here are five bold predictions for Liberty Athletics in this coming athletics season.
FOOTBALL WINS 8 GAMES FOR 4TH STRAIGHT YEAR
There will be a lot of new faces on the field for the Flames in 2022, as Liberty moves into the post-Malik Willis era. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of talent though. Fourth year head coach Hugh Freeze has been recruiting at a level never seen before at Liberty, and most of that talent is now ready to take to the field. To get to eight wins this season, against this schedule, will be a challenge, but Freeze and the Flames will find a way.
FLAMES WILL WIN 4TH STRAIGHT BOWL GAME
Liberty has made history by winning three straight bowl games in its first three years as a full FBS member. If our first bold prediction comes true, Liberty will be in a fourth straight bowl game and we are predicting that they find a way to win a fourth straight bowl game. Coach Freeze is very hard to beat when he has extra time to put together a game plan, as we have seen the past few years.
DARIUS McGHEE IS AN ALL-AMERICAN
Darius McGhee surprised a lot of Liberty fans by announcing his return to the Flames for 2022-23, taking advantage of his extra year of eligibility due to COVID. McGhee was one of the top offensive players in the country last year, and he is already being mentioned among some dark-horse All-American candidates. We think he will earn that status and help lead the Flames to a fourth ASUN title in his five years on the Mountain.
BASEBALL WINS ASUN
Under coach Scott Jackson, Liberty has seen its baseball program reach three straight NCAA Regionals, with the last two coming as an at-large. This year, we expect the Flames to be just as good as they have in the past few seasons under Jackson, but this time Liberty is able to come through and win the ASUN to advance to a fourth straight Regional.
SOFTBALL ADVANCES TO ITS FIRST EVER SUPER REGIONAL
Similar to baseball, the Lady Flames have seen tremendous success in recent years under head coach Dot Richardson. Liberty has seen that success extend into the postseason despite not yet advancing to a Super Regional. We see that streak end in 2023.
