Hugh Freeze gives his scheduling philosophy

Liberty is in its first full season as an FBS member and its the second season the Flames have faced a full FBS schedule. As an Independent, there is a lot that goes into making a schedule work, and Liberty and its administration has a lot of wiggle room to make the schedule check a lot of different boxes.

With the Flames scheduled to travel up the road to Charlottesville this weekend to take on Virginia, Hugh Freeze gave his scheduling philosophy for the Flames during this period of time as a new FBS Independent.

“My philosophy on scheduling, which I share with Ian and those that do it, I love to play two Power Five’s a year,” Freeze said during Monday’s press conference. “There may be some years where you get three, and if we can keep them in this region, those Power Fives, then I’m all for it.”

Liberty played three Power 5 schools this season, four if you count BYU, which Freeze does. The Flames played Syracuse, Rutgers, BYU and will play Virginia this week. Liberty’s prior road trips this season have all been made by plane travelling to Louisiana, New Mexico State, Rutgers, UMass, and BYU. The short bus trip is much appreciated to Freeze and his team this week.

“It’s cheaper on our budget for travel,” said Freeze on the shorter distance to Charlottesville. “It’s easier on the kids, the families, and it draws some interest locally.”

Freeze hopes to see the Flames play more regional Power Fives in the future.

“Whether it’s Virginia, Virginia Tech, the Carolinas, or the Duke’s, something in this region Power Five wise, not that you don’t venture out from time to time, those all make sense to me to play those,” he continued. “Certainly, Virginia is right up the road. If you’re asking me if Virginia is one of the Power Fives that I would be open to playing all the time, yes.”

In 2020, the Flames are scheduled to play three Power Fives, all from the ACC, in Virginia Tech, Syracuse, and NC State. Games against the Hokies, Cavaliers, Wolfpack, Wake Forest, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Duke are all on future Liberty football schedules.