The Liberty Flames’ football team have had an amazing 2020 season that will long be remembered in the record books. The Flames had a number of program firsts following a 9-1 season with two wins over ACC opponents and a top 25 ranking for five out of the past six weeks. No. 21 Liberty has also seen improvement in its computer rankings this year.
Following the conclusion of the team’s 2020 regular season, Liberty is currently ranked No. 78 in ESPN’s Football Power Index with a -2.1 rating. The Flames’ first season at the FBS level, in 2018 under Turner Gill, Liberty finished 113th out of 130 FBS programs with an FPI rating of -14.8 following the team’s 6-6 season. Last year, the first under Hugh Freeze, Liberty was up from 113 to No. 97 with a -8.4 rating.
FPI is a predictive rating system designed to measure team strength and project performance going forward. Each team’s FPI rating is composed of a predicted offensive, defensive and special teams component. These ratings represent the number of points each unit is expected to contribute to the team’s net scoring margin on a neutral field against an average FBS opponent.
Liberty’s wins came against #33 Virginia Tech, #102 Syracuse, #106 Western Kentucky, #116 Southern Miss, #121 Florida International, #125 UL Monroe, #127 UMass, and two FCS teams. NC State, the Flames’ lone loss of the season, is ranked #64.
