The #23 Liberty Flames are preparing to face the #8 Oregon Ducks in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl.

Who would’ve thought? Certainly, no one who paid attention to the 247Sports Team Talent Composite. This composite was last updated at the start of the 2023 season (September 18th to be exact) and summarizes the talent of each college football team’s roster.

“The 247Sports Composite Rating is a proprietary algorithm that compiles prospect “rankings” and “ratings” listed in the public domain by the major media recruiting services. It converts average industry ranks and ratings into a linear composite index capping at 1.0000, which indicates a consensus No. 1 prospect across all services” (247Sports). 

According to the composite, the Flames team talent ranks #123 out of 133 teams in the FBS and seventh out of nine teams in Conference USA. Seventh in Conference USA!? Despite this, the Flames were able to complete a 13-0 season and win the CUSA title.

The Flames have two 4-star recruits on their roster, as well as 19 3-stars, to give the Flames 339.18 composite points and an average of 84.81. 

The Ducks, on the other hand, are a completely different story. Oregon ranks second in the PAC 12 on the composite and 10th in the entire country for team talent. The Ducks compiled a total of 874.74 composite points with an average of 90.29. Oregon’s roster is comprised of five 5-star, 48 4-star, and 32 3-star rated players. 

Top 4 rated players on each roster: 

Liberty:

  • Jay Hardy – DT (0.9549)
  • Kaidon Salter – QB (0.9375)
  • Bryson Jennings – DE (0.8889)
  • James Jointer Jr. – RB (0.8774)

Oregon

  • Jordan Burch – DE (0.9954)
  • Josh Conerly Jr. – OL (0.9918)
  • Jurrion Dickey – WR (0.9890)
  • Bo Nix – QB (0.9856)

The Flames lost over 50% of their roster from 2022 and that no doubt had an impact on this year’s team’s talent composite ranking. Still, it is wild to see that the #123rd team in the team talent composite ranking is facing the 10th-ranked team in a New Year’s Six Bowl.

This just goes to show a few things. Firstly, rankings don’t mean everything, you still gotta play football! Secondly, this speaks to what an incredible job Jamey Chadwell and his coaching staff did in year one to have the kind of success the Flames are experiencing. Lastly, credit to these players. They’ve been counted out so many times this season, but have never wavered. They’ve earned every bit of success that they are receiving and hopefully, they aren’t done shocking the nation just yet. 

*Photo of Bo Nix courtesy of: University of Oregon Athletics.