Rise and Shine, Flames Fans! It took me two tries to log into Word Press so I just assumed my account had gotten banned but I’m just an idiot that can’t remember the somewhat simple password Jon created for me. Anywhom, what a hectic five days it’s been for Liberty Athletics. Arkansas win, Basketball season opener, and an awesome CUSA deal were announced that’s going to bring us midweek football next season. 

Now, rather than do an entire gambling breakdown, I wanted to mix it up a little bit. I saw people both for and against it online so I wanted to mix it up this week. While I’m still going to have my picks and a review of last week I’m going to break it down and give you FIVE reasons midweek games next October are gonna be amazing. 

(But first I would be remiss to acknowledge the fact I went 3-2 last week and gave out a parlay that paid +1100. If you put $10 on that you would have won $110. 24-26 on the season. 48%. That’s higher than our graduation rate! Recap over! Onto the meat and potatoes).

Five Reasons We Should Be Fired Up About Midweek Games Next Year.

(This is in no order because like Jon deciding his top five favorite Liberty wins, I can’t decide)

Eyeballs on the game and the program

Weekdays (Tuesday-Thursday) in October are basically a dead zone for football. Sure there is a Thursday Night NFL game but I wouldn’t be shocked if most games are front-loaded Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We live in a society right now where people will watch football, it doesn’t matter who is playing, the masses just want football. 

Right now the only people watching our games are generally LU fans and fans of whoever we’re playing. Sure there may be a little crossover but that’s generally the case. When you’re the standalone game on ESPN or CBSN you’re opening up to a whole new set of eyeballs. A guy who just flips on ESPN at 730 will see Liberty on. A bar or restaurant is going to put on a football game over a Law and Order rerun (shout out Stabler and Benson). I’m up north (Civil War champs holla) where college football isn’t king, but midweek games get the attention of many people. The more positive press and eyeballs the team and school get are going to be way better than an ESPN+ game on Saturday with the JV ESPN squad (I still haven’t forgotten ODU). 

(Memphis -6.5 against Tulsa. Home game, better losses to similar teams. I like their uniforms.)

Social Media 

It’s like clockwork. Every time there’s a weekday contest something from the match ends up trending on Twitter. Just alone last night I saw a bunch of plays from the Buffalo game (all-time collapse catching three, being up seventeen, and closing by four). I’m pretty sure there was at least one play from MACtion on the ESPN Top 10 last night. And if I’ve learned anything from Liberty twitter it’s that the fans LOVE making a top ten. Crave it. 

The discussion between not just fans of the schools playing but rather the entire college football community is focused on two games. Most people enjoy just watching college football and learning about new teams and players. Imagine Malik in a standalone game? He would have been the number one trend on Twitter with fans across the country tweeting and asking questions. 

(Liberty/UConn under 46.5. I think we score a little, I don’t think they do. LU is 1-4 ATS as a favorite so tread lightly) 

Highlighting our Crowd

One of the biggest knocks against mid-week MACtion is how bad the stadiums look. They pan out and the stands are hardly 50% full. I don’t see that being an issue at Williams Stadium. I can’t imagine a situation where we have less than 20K people in the stands with the student section going crazy. Classes will be canceled, events will be moved, and the school will do everything in its power to ensure the students have no excuse not to go to the games.  

Imagine when they come back from a commercial break after the third quarter and they’re showing the crowd singing Don’t Stop Believing?

Blog within a Blog, Don’t Stop Believing Stinks
I love the idea of singing a song after the third. It looks awesome. Especially at night. The problem is, the song choice is terrible. It’s the most overrated song in the history of music. It’s a basic four chord song with cheesy lyrics centered around a one night stand. Don’t believe me? Check the lyrics. 
A singer in a smokey room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on
If you think the night they’re sharing is Sweet Frog and a walk through the Prayer Garden I got some bad news for you. 

It’s going to look awesome. I honestly think we’ll be known as the school that has the best turnout compared to the rest of the G5 schools who also will be playing on weekdays. 

(Bama/Ole’ Miss over 63.5. Neither coach is going to quit and I think Lane is going to show off for the Auburn boosters. 

Sports Betting

Whether you partake or not, you can’t argue the fact it’s a huge deal across the country. MACtion leaned into the sports betting angle and succeeded because of it. People are always looking to throw some money on some weekday overs. With standalone games, we get to watch our conference rivals without having to give up any time on Saturdays we’ll have a great idea of how our Flames will do each week and ideally make a little money. I’ve seen stats online where midweek games do more handle than some Saturday games. More people than ever before will be paying attention to the Flames as they attempt to head to a Conference Championship for the first time.

(UTSA -18.5 over La Tech. Gut play)

Saturdays are FREE AGAIN

Your idiot cousin is getting married on a Saturday? WHO CARES! Some snotty kid’s second birthday party at noon on a Saturday? You don’t have to fake seven bathroom breaks to check scores. Book your apple picking with the family now because our Saturdays will be stress-free during October of next year. We can sit back and laugh at fans of other teams when they lose and just enjoy a calming weekend. Church after a loss is brutal and for four Sundays next October, we don’t have to worry about a thing. 

Clearly, I’m excited for this to happen. It’s not all season, it’s not every home game, and it’s a small part of a whole season. The positives outweigh the negatives and I already can’t wait for next October to see how this all plays out.

(Oregon -13.5 over Washington. Bo Nix is a legend at home. Oregon is undefeated ATS at home and UW hasn’t covered on the road. Easy one). 

See you on the bird!

@RichieLongshots