Liberty is favored to win every game this season with the exception of one, according to KenPom.com. The website released its preseason rankings and team projections earlier this week.
The Flames are ranked #88 in the country, the highest preseason ranking Liberty has ever had on the site. Expectations are higher than ever before under 5th year head coach Ritchie McKay who guided the program to 29 wins, a regular season and tournament ASUN title, and the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament win. Liberty finished the year ranked #58 according to KenPom, the highest finish ever, besting the previous high of 181 following the 2003-04 Big South Championship team.
KenPom has Liberty favored in every game this season except for the December 29th showdown at LSU. The Flames are given a 20% chance at winning that one.
The next three toughest games for Liberty, according to KenPom, are January 4th at NJIT (53%), December 14th at Vanderbilt, (55%), and December 8th against Grand Canyon in Phoenix (56%).
Despite being favored in all games except for the one, KenPom projects the Flames to finish with an overall record of 22-6 and a 13-3 mark in ASUN play.
KenPom projects NJIT to finish 2nd in the ASUN with an 11-5 mark. They are ranked #140 in the preseason. Lipscomb checks in at #182 and is projected to finish 10-6 as is North Florida who is #184 in the preseason rankings. FGCU checks in at #250 and is projected to finish 5th in the league at 8-8. North Alabama, still in the transition from Division II, is projected to finish 6-10 and is ranked #280. #289 in the KenPom preseason rankings is Jacksonville. The Dolphins are projected to finish tied with UNA at 6-10. Kennesaw State is projected to finish 5-11 and is ranked #318 while Stetson brings up the rear of the ASUN projected standings at #329 and a 4-12 projected conference record.
Liberty opens the season November 8th in the Vines Center against Radford. The Flames are given a 75% chance at the win, according to KenPom.
