Liberty has cracked into the top 25 of the latest College Football Playoff release on Tuesday evening, checking in at No. 25. It marks the first time the Flames have ever been ranked in the CFP Top 25 in the history of the program.

“They keep winning games,” CFP Selection Committee Chair Boo Corrigan said of Liberty. “The value of winning games. They score a lot of points, average a lot of yards. Their strength of schedule has been an issue from the beginning, but, at the end of the day, you can only play the people that are on your schedule. As we looked at it more and more, and the value of winning, and the value that the committee puts on that became a determining factor of Liberty coming in at number 25.”

The Flames (11-0, 7-0 Conference USA) are the second highest ranked Group of Five team in this week’s ranking checking in behind No. 23 Tulane. The highest ranked G5 conference champion in the final CFP Top 25 will play in a New Year’s Six bowl game.

After securing the program’s 11th straight victory in the 49-25 win over UMass on Saturday, the Liberty football team continued to rise in the national rankings. The Flames now check in at No. 22 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches Polls.

The Flames set a program record with 11 wins in a single season, surpassing the mark of 10 wins set in 2008 and 2020. Liberty is the fifth CUSA team to ever start 11-0 or better, joining Tulane (1998), Houston (2011), Marshall (2014), and UTSA (2021).

Liberty is just the third school from CUSA to ever be ranked in the CFP Top 25, joining UTSA and Charlotte. UTSA was ranked for one week last year at No. 25 and for three weeks during the 2021 season, rising as high as No. 22. Marshall was ranked for two weeks during the 2020 season and once during the 2014 campaign, reaching as high as No. 21.

Georgia is ranked No. 1 once again in this week’s ranking while Ohio State and Michigan follows behind at No. 2 and 3, respectively. Washington is currently in line for the fourth and final playoff spot at No. 4 while Florida State follows behind at No. 5.

Liberty returns to action for the regular season finale on Saturday against UTEP in El Paso, Texas at the Sun Bowl. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and will be shown live on CBS Sports Network.