Liberty completed the regular season 12-0 following Saturday’s defeat of UTEP, 42-28. This week, the Flames will play for the Conference USA Championship on Friday night against New Mexico State.
Several outlets have updated their bowl projections and we have assembled those projections for where Liberty is being pegged. Final bowl destinations will be announced on Sunday.
- Mark Schlabach (ESPN): Birmingham Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
- Kyle Bonagura (ESPN): Birmingham Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
- Jerry Palm (CBS Sports): New Orleans Bowl vs JMU (11-1)
- College Football News: New Orleans Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
- Brad Crawford (247Sports): New Orleans Bowl vs Coastal Carolina (7-5)
- Brett McMurphy (Action Network): Birmingham Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
- Steve Lassan (Athlon Sports): New Orleans Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
- Oliver Hodgkinson (College Football Network): New Orleans Bowl vs Appalachian State (8-4)
- Bill Bender (Sporting News): New Orleans Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
- Saturday Blitz: New Orleans Bowl vs Troy (10-2)
Having transitioned to Conference USA this summer, there is a new set of bowl tie-ins CUSA has and the Flames will be eligible for.
First off, the Conference USA champion will be in the mix for the Fiesta, Cotton, or Chik-fil-A Peach Bowl if it is the highest ranked Group of Five champion and if it’s not in the College Football Playoff. For the rest of the bowls, CUSA doesn’t have a true pecking order of bowl picks. Instead, the bowls are picked based off a number of factors including geography and best possible matchups.
Here are the bowls where Conference USA has a primary selection:
Bahamas Bowl
Nassau, Bahamas vs MAC
Armed Forces Bowl
Fort Worth, Texas vs American
New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans, Louisiana vs Sun Belt
New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque, New Mexico vs Mountain West
Independence Bowl
Shreveport, Louisiana vs TBD
If CUSA has additional bowl eligible teams, there are also a number of bowls where CUSA teams can be selected as a secondary team:
Cure Bowl
Hawaii Bowl
Frisco Bowl
Boca Raton Bowl
Under first year head coach Jamey Chadwell, Liberty will be looking to make a fifth consecutive bowl appearance. The Flames have reached a bowl game in each of the four seasons of full FBS eligibility. Liberty is 3-1 in previous bowl games.