Maybe it is no coincidence that as the college football regular season is hitting its final stretch, fans’ favorite off-season drug, realignment is starting to awaken from its slumber. In the past two weeks there have been at least two significant news items that relate to Liberty’s FBS hopes. First, Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson essentially stated that they are done with the idea of expansion to 12 football schools for now. This week, the news broke that Alabama-Birmingham, a Conference USA institution, is at least exploring the idea of disbanding their football program. This would presumably leave a spot open in the 14 school league.
Does the Sun Belt actually fear what Liberty brings to the table?
Let’s talk Sun Belt. Liberty to FBS supporters have largely put their hopes in the SEC’s broke cousin for the past couple of years, only to see the group of bottom tier state schools reject the Flames. Watching the Sun Belt epically fail their way through non-conference match ups this year has been an eye opener. The Belt is a combined 4-25 against non-conference FBS opponents so far this season. That doesn’t include several losses to FCS teams, most notably Liberty’s win over App State. One of the arguments against Liberty joining the Sun Belt we heard most often was that the Flames hadn’t done anything on the field to deserve an FBS move. Maybe, but it would be pretty difficult to argue that Liberty couldn’t handle the level of play in the Sun Belt on week 1 of their hypothetical membership.
So what is the Sun Belt looking for? Commissioner Karl Benson stated “If there was another Georgia Southern out there right now that might make the decision a little easier.” Interesting. Georgia Southern has certainly seen some success in their first season, but if you read between the lines there is more than on the field success there. The Sun Belt is a league of all public universities. Not just that, but public universities that almost all have financial limitations that Liberty simply does not. Not one of the Sun Belt member institutions is a top flight university in its respective state, or even close.
As the NCAA and the Power 5 conference schools discuss the inevitable expansion of benefits to student athletes, maybe the last thing a bunch of cash-strapped schools want is a sleeping giant like Liberty to compete with. So, for the Sun Belt Presidents to support expanding to 12 teams (the number currently needed to host a lucrative conference championship game), what they are really looking for is another cash-strapped lower tier state school with limited prospects of being too competitive on a national stage. Ambitious.
UAB could open up a spot in Conference USA should it disband its football program.
So where does that leave Liberty now? Nowhere to go at the moment. However, a source inside Liberty’s athletic department recently stated that LU now has its sights set on Conference USA or the American Athletic Conference. Most of Liberty’s renewed optimism appears to surround the idea of expanded benefits, such as “full cost of attendance” for student athletes. Simply put, Liberty administrators know they can afford to offer benefits on par with the Power 5, while the general consensus is that many, if not most of the Group of 5 schools cannot. This opens up the possibility of a pretty big shake up in the G5, and could be where the Flames find their way in.
Should Alabama-Birmingham drop football, it would be the first FBS casualty to this new financial world of college sports. It certainly wouldn’t be the last. Such a move could be the shoe Liberty desperately needs to drop to break into the FBS world. Conference USA would definitely be in play. Liberty has a strong ally in C-USA member Old Dominion, and LU’s geography as well as finances better align with Conference USA than the Sun Belt anyway. Should C-USA draft a current Sun Belt school, its possible that the Sun Belt Presidents would be in a position of reconsidering Liberty’s potential membership as well.
While FlamesNation supports a move to any FBS conference, perhaps the Sun Belt passing the Flames over was the best thing that could have happened. Liberty’s well on its way to bigger and better things, maybe sooner than we all thought.
