The Liberty Flames (8-4) and Toledo Rockets (8-5) are preparing to meet in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday, December 20th from Boca Raton, Florida. The Flames are a 4.5 point underdog against Toledo as Liberty is hoping to improve to 4-0 all-time in bowl games.
According to ESPN’s FPI, Liberty’s best win came against the #39 ranked FPI team Arkansas while Toledo’s best win came against the #92 ranked FPI team Ohio.
The rest of Liberty’s win came against FCS Gardner-Webb, #94 Southern Miss, #66 UAB, #126 Akron, #104 Old Dominion, #130 UMass, and #64 BYU. Liberty’s average win came against a team ranked 89 in FPI.
Liberty’s losses were against #38 Wake Forest, #120 UConn, #93 Virginia Tech, and #121 New Mexico State. Liberty’s average loss came against a team ranked 93 in FPI.
In addition to the win over Ohio, Toledo’s other wins came against FCS Long Island, #130 UMass, #108 Central Michigan, #119 Northern Illinois, #97 Kent State, #105 Eastern Michigan, and #116 Ball State. Their average win came against a team ranked 109.6 in FPI.
Toledo’s losses were against #3 Ohio State, #89 San Diego State, #101 Buffalo, #122 Bowling Green, and #113 Western Michigan. Their average loss came against a team ranked 85.6 in FPI.
Here’s how several college football media outlets rank the Flames (and the Rockets) out of 131 FBS schools entering bowl season.
Rankings with asterisk indicate teams are ranked by data and formula, not by human polling.
- ESPN* (Football Power Index) — 83 (78)
- CBS Top 131 — 67 (83)
- Massey Ratings* — 82 (89)
- Sagarin Ratings* (258 FBS/FCS teams ranked) — 99 (79)
- The Athletic 131 – 48 (83)
