Liberty’s 2021 season kicks off in just over a week as the Flames continue to prepare for the upcoming season. Brett McMurphy released his preseason bowl projections and he has the Flames heading back to the Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida for a third straight season. His matchup for the Dec. 17 bowl game has Liberty facing Florida Atlantic.
Previous early bowl projections this summer have had Liberty paired with Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl or Nevada in the same New Mexico Bowl. Another preseason projection has Liberty facing UCF in the Boca Raton Bowl while 247Sports has the Flames playing in the Union Home Mortgage Bowl against the ACC’s Wake Forest.
The Cure Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl are included in Liberty’s agreement with ESPN. Other bowl games Liberty and ESPN have secondary bowl agreements with include the Camellia Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl, and Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Liberty is coming off a record campaign in 2020 when the Flames finished 10-1 following the team’s dramatic bowl win over Coastal Carolina in the Cure Bowl. The Flames also picked up the program’s first ever wins over an ACC opponent when Liberty defeated Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Those two wins made Liberty the first non-Power Five team to post a pair of wins over ACC schools in the same season since Houston did so in 2015. Liberty finished the 2020 season ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 18 in the Amway Coaches Poll, the highest ever ranking for the Flames as an FBS program.
Liberty will open the 2021 season at home on Sept. 4 against Campbell. The Flames will host five more home games throughout the season: Old Dominion (Sept. 18), Middle Tennessee (Oct. 9), UMass (Oct. 30), Louisiana (Nov. 20), and Army (Nov. 27).
Five other Liberty opponents this upcoming season are included in McMurphy’s preseason bowl projections. He also has Troy, UAB, Ole Miss, Louisiana, and Army making a bowl game this year.
