The Liberty Flames (8-3) and Buffalo Bulls (8-4) are preparing to meet in the Bahamas Bowl on Saturday, January 4th from Nassau, Bahamas. The Flames are a 2-point underdog against Buffalo as Liberty is hoping to improve to 4-2 all-time in bowl games.
According to ESPN’s FPI, Liberty’s best win came against the #93 ranked FPI team East Carolina while Buffalo’s best win came against the #85 ranked FPI team Northern Illinois.
The rest of Liberty’s win came against #101 Western Kentucky, #116 FIU, #125 UMass, #128 Middle Tennessee, #129 UTEP, #130 New Mexico State, and FCS Campbell. Liberty’s average win came against a team ranked 117.6 in FPI.
The Flames’ losses were against #73 Jacksonville State, #94 Sam Houston, and #131 Kennesaw State.
In addition to the win over Northern Illinois, Buffalo’s other wins came against FCS Lafayette, #91 Toledo, #119 Eastern Michigan, #124 Akron, #125 UMass, #126 Ball State, and #134 Kent State. The Bulls’ average win came against a team ranked 115 in FPI.
Buffalo’s losses were to #20 Missouri, #73 Ohio, #79 UConn, and #111 Western Michigan.
Here’s how several college football media outlets rank the Flames (and the Bulls) out of 134 FBS schools entering bowl season.
Rankings with asterisk indicate teams are ranked by data and formula, not by human polling.
- ESPN* (Football Power Index) — 96 (107)
- CBS Top 134 — 63 (83)
- Massey Ratings* — 97 (104)
- Sagarin Ratings* (264 FBS/FCS teams ranked) — 94 (115)
