Heading into his ninth consecutive season at Liberty, Ritchie McKay and the Liberty Flames are being projected by many as the preseason Conference USA Favorites in the program’s first year in their new league. The Flames are also looking to win 20 or more games for an eighth straight year.
Over the weekend, KenPom released its initial ratings entering the 2023-24 men’s basketball. The Flames are listed at No. 78 overall and 1st in the CUSA. KenPom has listed Liberty as the 84th adjusted offense at 103.5 while the adjusted defense comes in at 74th and 94.2. Both of those numbers are based on points per 100 possessions.
This is the highest preseason ranking by KenPom for Liberty in school history, besting last year’s mark at No. 82. The Flames’ previous highest preseason mark was No. 86 during the 2019-20 season when Liberty was coming off its first ever NCAA Tournament win over Mississippi State in March 2019.
Liberty has finished with its highest ever rankings in the final KenPom ratings each of the past five seasons, finishing No. 58 following the 2018-19 season, No. 79 following the 2019-20 campaign, No. 98 at the end of the 2020-21 season, and finished No. 124 following the 2021-22 season. Last year, the Flames finished at No. 48, the highest end of year finish in program history. The Flames’ next best finishes in the history of KenPom’s ratings came in 2003-04 when Randy Dunton’s team was ranked No. 181 and in 2017-18 when the Flames finished No. 184 under McKay.
Following Liberty in the CUSA is No. 116 Louisiana Tech. Behind the Bulldogs is No. 140 Sam Houston, followed by Middle Tennessee (#151), UTEP (#154), Western Kentucky (#173), New Mexico State (#178), FIU (#183), and Jacksonville State (#204).
KenPom projects the Flames to finish the regular season with a 21-8 overall mark to go along with the 11-5 CUSA record projection. The computer model has Liberty as underdog against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 30 with a 23% chance to win the game. The Flames are also predicted as an underdog against Alabama on Dec. 30 with a 15% chance to win, but every other game on the schedule KenPom currently has Liberty with a greater than 50% chance to win.
Ritchie McKay’s Flames are coming off a 27-9 season and 15-3 mark in conference play that saw Liberty fall to Kennesaw State in the ASUN tournament championship game. Liberty will open the season at home against Mid-Atlantic Christian on Nov. 6 before facing UNC Charlotte, in Charlotte though being on a neutral floor, on Nov. 10.
