For a second straight season, Liberty will play into January. It won’t be on a stage as big as the Fiesta Bowl like last year, as the Flames announced Thursday the team had accepted an invite to play in the Bahamas Bowl on January 4 against Buffalo. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN 2 from Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. Kickoff for the game is set for 11 a.m. EST.

The Flames will be making their sixth-consecutive bowl game appearance, having appeared in a bowl game each year since they could become bowl eligible in 2019.

The game will feature a pair of eight-win programs. Liberty finished the regular season with an 8-3 overall record and 5-3 mark in Conference USA play, finishing in fourth place in the conference. Buffalo went 8-4 and 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference, finishing in third place in the league.

A CUSA team has faced a MAC team four times in the nine-year history of the Bahamas Bowl. CUSA teams are 3-1 against MAC teams in the Bahamas Bowl and four CUSA teams have posted a victory at this bowl game.

Liberty enters the Bahamas Bowl matchup against Buffalo looking to push its all-time bowl game record to 4-2. The Flames won their first three bowl games in school history, posting back-to-back wins in the Cure Bowl in 2019 and 2020, followed by a victory over Eastern Michigan in the 2021 Lending Tree Bowl. Liberty suffered its first ever bowl loss to Toledo, under interim head coach Josh Aldridge, in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl.

Last year, following an historic 12-0 regular season and a victory over New Mexico State in the 2023 CUSA Football Championship, the Flames earned their first ever New Year’s Six bowl game appearance where they lost to No. 8 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Flames and Bulls will be meeting for the fourth time in program history. Liberty is 3-0 all-time against Buffalo, including a 55-27 win at Buffalo last year, Sept. 19, 2023.

This will mark the first time the Bahamas Bowl has been played in January and the first time the game has been played on a Saturday. It is only the second time the bowl has featured two teams wi the eight or more wins, as UAB and Ohio, both 8-4 at the time, squared off in 2017.

Buffalo won eight games for the first time since 2019 under Pete Lembo. He became the first Bulls head coach to win eight games in his first season with the program. This year is just the third time in their FBS history the Bulls have won eight games in the regular season. Buffalo will be looking to win the Bahamas Bowl for a second time as they defeated Charlotte, 31-9, in 2019. It will be Buffalo’s seventh bowl game in program history and its fifth in the last seven years. The Bulls have won each of their last three bowl games.

Liberty will be without several players from the 2024 team. Head coach Jamey Chadwell announced the players who are already in the portal won’t play in the bowl game, also stating there will be more that opt out. “I would expect some guys that played a lot of football for us to do that,” he said of players opting out.

So far, Liberty has seen starting quarterback Kaidon Salter, starting offensive linemen Jordan White and Xavior Gray and reserve offensive lineman Jordan Hall, as well as starting defensive tackle Bryce Dixon enter the transfer portal since the conclusion of the regular season last Friday. Reserve wide receivers Markel Fortenberry and Kylen Austin and reserve running back James Jointers have also entered the portal.

In the absence of Salter, Chadwell says that Ryan Burger will get the start at quarterback for the Flames while Nate Hampton will serve as his backup. Burger has played in four games for the Flames so far this season. He’s completed 4 of 7 passes for 48 yards while also rushing 6 times for 13 yards and a touchdown. He also played in two games for Appalachian State during the 2022 and 2023 seasons before transferring to Liberty.

“it’s a huge opportunity,” Chadwell said of Burger in the Bahamas Bowl. “It’s a great opportunity for him to get an unbelievable experience and help us get a bowl championship and a ring. I know our team believes in Ryan and what he can do.”

The Flames will have nearly a month to begin to put together their plan for the bowl game. It will be an opportunity for several players who haven’t played a significant number of snaps to get extended looks in practice and potentially in the game.

“This group is already changing,” said Chadwell. “This team is not the same team it was last Friday. It’s not. It’s gone. It’s a sneak peek of next year’s team. I would tell our fans, you get at least a sneak peek of some of the guys that have been practicing and playing some, maybe they haven’t played a lot, they are going to play a lot in this game. You get a chance to see where they got to get to if they want to continue to compete for championships in Conference USA.”

The 8-3 season and Bahamas Bowl is certainly not what Liberty expected of itself for the 2024 season, not coming off the success of the 13-1 campaign in 2023 with several key pieces returning. Still, it’s a reward to the coaches and players that remain on the team for their hard work for the season. It will also give the team almost a month of additional practice time.

“Part of the specialty of being FBS is you get a chance to do the bowl game,” Chadwell said. “When you started in 2018 and you’ve had five years in a row of bowl games, you want to make sure you are part of keeping that tradition going. As a player, you never know when your last game is. I’m thankful that, Lord-willing, my last game’s not what happened last Friday.”