Kickoff for the 2021 Liberty Flames football season is still over four months away, but it’s never too early to begin discussing the upcoming season.
ESPN’s newly unveiled Football Power Index rankings project Liberty to finish 8.3-3.7 (so, 8-4) and 65th overall. According to the metric, the Flames have a 0.4% chance to go undefeated and a 98.3% chance to win six games or more.
As far as the 2021 schedule goes, here’s how Liberty’s opponents look (aside from FCS foe Campbell).
22. Ole Miss Rebels
52. Troy Trojans
58. UAB Blazers
69. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
80. Syracuse Orange
96. Army Black Knights
110. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
115. North Texas Mean Green
121. ULM Warhawks
127. Old Dominion Monarchs
128. UMass Minutemen
The Flames face three teams ranked ahead of them, all three of them on the road with the home game on Nov. 20 against Louisiana coming against a team ranked just behind Liberty.
The Liberty Flames’ football team had an amazing 2020 season that will long be remembered in the record books. The Flames had a number of program firsts following a 10-1 season with two wins over ACC opponents and finishing ranked No. 17 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Following the conclusion of the team’s 2020 season, Liberty was ranked No. 76 in ESPN’s Football Power Index with a -1.2 rating. The Flames’ first season at the FBS level, in 2018 under Turner Gill, Liberty finished 113th out of 130 FBS programs with an FPI rating of -14.8 following the team’s 6-6 season. Last year, the first under Hugh Freeze, Liberty was up from 113 to No. 97 with a -8.4 rating.
