Another edition of the ASOR Mailbag! Thank you for submitting your questions and continue to send them in and we will be happy to answer them in our next feature. You can send them to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, e-mail, or as a comment on the site. We had a ton of great questions this week, so let’s get right to it.

Scheduling has been a hot button issue for Liberty fans over the past couple of years and understandably so. We’ve addressed this elsewhere previously, but I’m happy to take another stab at it. Let’s look at football first. I think the issue really stems from not having any P4s on the schedule from 2023-2026. We’re talking about four years. Remember, starting in 2027, Virginia Tech will be on the schedule several years. From 2018-2022, when we were brand new to the FBS and an Independent, we had a lot of P4s on the schedule – Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Ole Miss, Auburn, Wake Forest, etc. And there were others that had scheduled to play us from 2023 on. When we made the move from being an Independent to joining Conference USA, we had to drop about 8 games from every schedule beginning in 2023. That’s a lot of games to move in short order. Each of the contracts for these games include a buyout clause which can be seven figures if a team wants to get out of the agreement. You can do that quick math; we’re talking Liberty being on the hook for potentially as much as $30+ million just to cancel football games. I don’t care how big your budget is or how much money you have, that’s not a wise investment to just bit that full bullet. So, Liberty was very strategic in getting out of these games. Couple that thought in with the success the Flames had under Hugh Freeze in the first few years at the FBS level. No longer was this an FBS newbie that looked like an easy win. No, the Flames had proven they belonged at this level and could knock off P4 teams here and there. Other P4 head coaches and ADs knew Liberty had to drop games and many of them ran to the phones to get out of their scheduling agreements. It has led to a few years of tough schedules. Credit to the Liberty athletic admin in getting some really good G5 games like East Carolina, Appalachian State, JMU, Coastal, and others, to help during these lean years. AD Ian McCaw also said to wait until 2027 to get through this scheduling conundrum. The 2027 non-conference schedule currently features Virginia Tech, Coastal Carolina, UConn, and Delaware State. That’s a solid schedule. 2029’s is Virginia Tech, ETSU, Coastal, and East Carolina. Yes, please. The same admin that put together those schedules from 2018-22 is still in charge. Two more years of no P4s on the schedule and then we will be fine.

Men’s basketball is another situation. It’s similar but also different. Browse through any high major team’s non-conference schedule. You will find two things – they play other high majors and teams at the bottom of Division I. Quad 1 opportunities are important for NCAA Tournament chances and beating Quad 4 teams by 30+ can help your metrics too. There just aren’t many out there looking for Quad 2 opportunities. And flashing cash to these schools that are making tens of millions of dollars in TV revenue alone doesn’t move the needle much. I would like us to get some quality, nearby mid-majors on the schedule. There are so many to choose from – VCU, Richmond, George Mason, Wiliam & Mary, High Point, Chattanooga, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, George Washington, Furman, ETSU, Davidson, etc. These teams won’t do much for your NCAA Tournament profile in the current climate, but having a couple home and homes that rotate through some of these would certainly be advantageous for the fan base. Also, don’t forget Liberty gets to host the Field of 68 Showcase this coming season so FAU and Charleston will be playing at Liberty Arena.

From Instagram, one of our followers asked, “What is the current state of the Universities NIL and how robust is it compared to other G5s?”

As part of the House vs NCAA proposed settlement, schools will be allowed to share athletic department revenues with their athletes beginning this summer. Under the proposed revenue sharing model, NCAA Division I schools will be allowed to directly make payments to their athletes up to a tentative annual revenue sharing cap of $20.5 million per school. The cap is estimated to grow in the coming years. This will have a drastic change not just on the NIL landscape but the entire college athletic landscape. Power 4 conference schools are expected to have football revenue sharing budgets of nearly $15 million while basketball is expected to be around $3 million on average per year. Group of 5 schools will obviously be lower than that. We may see some conferences establish salary cap type instruments at this level. This information will be more readily available than anything we have ever seen in the NIL landscape. It will also enable a school like Liberty, which is well funded, to compete at or near the top of the G5 while other not so well funded G5s may be forced to rethink their strategies. NIL will continue to be a playmaker in college athletics, but I think it will become more of a supplement to the revenue sharing, especially at the G5 level and for Liberty.

I think we will see all teams take a leap as Liberty’s revenue share budget will be higher than its CUSA counterparts. I don’t think you will see Liberty’s revenue share number reported publicly but we have heard that the Flames will be near or at the top of the G5 in this category. Some other schools are splitting their revenue share by sport based on how much revenue each sport generates. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Liberty do something similar. So, you could see something like 70% going to football, 15% going to men’s basketball, with the rest being split up fairly evenly except for maybe women’s basketball and baseball getting a slightly larger cut.

LOL. I’m sure you’ve all seen the news of Coastal Carolina offering free concessions to all fans for the home football games this season. Neat marketing gimmick. It’s certainly made the headlines this week.

From Instagram, one of our followers asked, “Don’t you think Liberty football needs a big back for short yardage (220 lbs or above)?”

There’s not many Quinton Cooley’s walking around especially at the G5 level. At 5’7″, 220 pounds, he was a bruiser but also had the burst if he got into space. Running back is certainly a position that has a question mark around it heading into 2025. It looks like Caden Williams (5’10”, 210) and Evan Dickens (5’11”, 195) will be the “bruising” backs the Flames will have on the field this season. For comparison’s sake, Billy Lucas was listed at 5’11” and 210. Also, keep an eye on true freshman Malachi Fannin-Render (5’8″, 180). He could push for playing time this season also. Obviously, it remains to be seen how effective any of these backs are on the field as losing both Cooley and Lucas are huge holes to fill.

From Instagram, one of our followers, asked, “Don’t you think Liberty basketball needs an experienced big man (6’10” plus)?”

Sure, that would be advantageous, but I don’t think it’s a necessity. The last 6’10” or taller player that was part of Liberty’s rotation was Evan Maxwell all the way back in 2015-16, Ritchie McKay’s first year back at Liberty. That’s 9 straight years without someone at 6’10” or taller in the rotation, and the Flames have had a ton of success over that span, going 220-87 overall, 108-41 in conference play, 17-5 in conference tournament games with six title game appearances and four championships. Of course, most of that damage was done in the Big South and ASUN and not the much more competitive Conference USA. Still, even with the loss of 6’8″ Owen Aquino to the portal, the Flames have 6’7″ Zach Cleveland, 6’9″ Isaiah Ihnen, 6’9″ Josh Smith, and 6’8″ Zander Yates. If a 6’10″+ player that fits into the culture becomes available, then, yes, please. But, either way, we should continue to be one of the top mid-major programs in the country.