Kickoff for the 2022 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 7.5-4.5 (so between 7 and 8 wins) and 76th overall. According to the metric, the Flames have a 0.0% chance to go undefeated and a 93.3% chance to win six games or more.
As far as the 2022 schedule goes, here’s how Liberty’s opponents look (aside from FCS foe Gardner-Webb).
29. Arkansas Razorbacks
30. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
46. BYU Cougars
63. UAB Blazers
74. Virginia Tech Hokies
99. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
111. Old Dominion Monarchs
126. Akron Zips
129. UMass Minutemen
130. UConn Huskies
131. New Mexico State Aggies
The Flames face five teams ranked ahead of them, two of them being on the road (Arkansas, Wake Forest) while three are at home (BYU, UAB, Virginia Tech).
Liberty will be looking to become bowl eligible for a fourth consecutive season after winning the Cure Bowl in 2019 and 2020 and the 2021 Lending Tree Bowl. The Flames have won at least 8 games in each of the past three seasons under head coach Hugh Freeze.
Following the conclusion of the team’s 2021 season, Liberty was ranked No. 56 in ESPN’s Football Power Index with a 1.9 rating, it’s highest finish in the FPI since joining the FBS. Following the 2020 season, the Flames finished the year ranked No. 76 in ESPN’s Football Power Index with a -1.2 rating. In 2019, under first year head coach Hugh Freeze, Liberty finished No. 97 with a -8.4 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.
