Liberty remained at No. 21 and No. 22 in the Coaches and AP Top 25 Polls, respectively, following a second straight open date as the Flames continue to wait word on a possible bowl destination. That word could come at any moment and certainly by this coming Sunday when all bowl destinations will be revealed following the unveiling of the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six Bowls.
Several bowl invitations have been handed out over the past week and things are starting to clear up a bit, but for Liberty there is still a lot of unknowns regarding a possible bowl site. We’re also keeping tabs on the most likely bowl destinations for the Flames and updating this list frequently. Here’s a look at what bowl game Liberty is being projected into by various publications.
- ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs Georgia Tech (3-7)
- CBS’ Jerry Palm: Camellia Bowl vs Buffalo (5-0)
- 247Sports: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs South Carolina (2-8)
- Sporting News: Myrtle Beach Bowl vs UAB (5-3)
- The Athletic: Birmingham Bowl vs Tulane (6-5)
- Athlon Sports: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs Georgia Tech (3-7)
- College Football News: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs San Jose State (6-0)
- Stadium (from 12/10): Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs South Carolina (2-8)
- Yahoo Sports (from 12/9): Military Bowl vs Boston College (6-5)
- Bleacher Report (from 12/8): Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs Tulane (6-5)
- USA Today (from 12/8): Montgomery Bowl vs BYU (9-1)
Most common destination: Gasparilla (6)
Most common opponent: Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Tulane (2)
The Flames are looking to return to a bowl game for the second straight season after Hugh Freeze led the program to its first ever bowl appearance a season ago when Liberty defeated Georgia Southern in the Cure Bowl. Stadium’s Brett McMurphy reported a couple weeks ago that it would be possible there would be no room for Liberty to receive a bowl invitation this year due to the NCAA ruling everyone eligible in the COVID altered season. That certainly would be unfortunate for the Flames who are ranked in the AP and Coaches Top 25 polls and have had the best season in school history. Certainly Liberty has a bowl worthy resume.
The Flames received some good news this week as a couple Power Five teams are officially out of the bowl picture. LSU has also self-imposed a bowl ban for this season and Boston College has stated they are not accepting a bowl invite, as has Pitt and Virginia.