If you have been reading my column for a while, you know that I possess a quality that is archetypal to columnists; I have strong opinions. I say this, because my opinion on realignment as it relates to Liberty and the Sun Belt Conference has evolved, especially over the past few weeks. Many theories have been discussed as to why the Sun Belt has failed to invite Liberty to their conference. However, the Sun Belt’s apparent strong interest in Coastal Carolina and/or Eastern Kentucky over the past few weeks has made it apparent that many of the stock reasons Liberty has not been invited are irrelevant.
The Sun Belt has narrowed in on Coastal Carolina and Eastern Kentucky.
From a resource perspective, Liberty offers things to the Sun Belt that neither Coastal Carolina or Eastern Kentucky could never dream of. The Chanticleers play in a 9,200 seat stadium, and reportedly average 9,000 fans per game. The Flames already play in a packed stadium that seats 20,000, while Coastal has “plans” to expand to 21,000. In addition to facilities, Liberty brings a television network, financial stability, and a national footprint that Coastal cannot. That is not to mention the reportedly massive financial package Liberty offered the Sun Belt. Crunching the numbers, Liberty is obviously a better candidate.
Eastern Kentucky’s Roy Kidd Stadium
Academics? There isn’t a school in the Sun Belt that can make a legitimate claim to offering more academically than Liberty University. GPA’s, test scores, and ranking of incoming students are significantly higher at Liberty than a decade ago. Graduation rates are up. Liberty has more diversity, more programs of study, and better academic facilities than Coastal Carolina. Liberty isn’t competing against the Ivy League here. Coastal Carolina and Eastern Kentucky are not a step up in the world of academics.
No, this isn’t about winning, or facilities, or finances, or academics. This is about who Liberty is. They don’t like us. A handful of elitist academics that don’t understand the actual meaning of tolerance have decided that they would rather not be associated with a school like Liberty, where the gospel of Jesus is unashamedly preached, and the political left doesn’t have a stranglehold on ideas. They don’t like Liberty’s progressive academic model, eliminating the inefficiencies of old academia. They don’t like that Liberty doesn’t compromise on standards of moral principle to fit whichever way the social wind is blowing. They don’t like that Liberty challenges students to learn many viewpoints, not just ones that are accepted academic dogma. They don’t like Biblical Christianity. It makes them uncomfortable. And to their detriment, they will accept a lesser program to avoid it. It is time for Liberty to start exploring another way to FBS football.
Maybe it’s the religious thing. But, if I had to bet, I’d bet that the issue is LU’s association with schools like the University of Phoenix. It’s not merely that LU offers online courses; nearly every school does that. It’s that over 100k of its students are online students. State schools (rightly, in my view) have a very low view of schools the majority of whose students are online and online-only.
I agree that Coastal is an academic lightweight, and I’m not sure about EKU. But, LU isn’t seen as an academic lightweight, even. There are lightweights (Coastal), and there are jokes (Phoenix). I’m willing to bet many administrators see LU as the latter. If LU wants to be treated as a ‘serious’ academic institution (which is what many conferences–probably the Sun Belt included–want (or say they want) as a part of theirs), it can’t even be *associated* with Phoenix, ITTech, et al. But, of course, if it stopped doing *that*, it would lose the majority of its revenue stream. I’d look very hard at *that* being the reason for exclusion.
In time, on-line education is going to be more of the norm than the exception. It could be a problem now. However, I believe it has to do more with the fact that we are a sleeping giant, that the SBC doesn’t want to have to deal with in the future. Very few of their member institutions have the resources that we have and none of them have the upward trajectory that we enjoy.
Religious beliefs? That is part of the reason we have been rejected by the SBC for sure, but I don’t believe it is the major reason.
This is definitely a time to ” speak the truth in love ” and address the quiet persecution of non-inclusion. It will be tough, but we must follow Christ’s example and be patient, while doing things the right way. It may take longer, but I can’t believe that God is looking for another boisterous, self righteous university that has nothing to do with God’s objectives than a name on a charter ( Duke, Wake Forest and Notre Dame come to mind ). I believe that the ultimate victory will occur when every step in growth is followed by a self examination of each move, and all success is measured in humility and the perception that it gives to a hurting and dying world. If this is done, God will draw those who want to be here and put us where we can best be of use to His kingdom.
I think the problem with Sun Belt’s hesitancy has more to do with success out of conference. No doubt Liberty has dominated in the Big South Conference. But when Liberty goes out of conference against the upper tier 1-AA (FCS) conferences, irrespective of sport, they don’t fare well. Look at the record against the Colonial Conference, Big Sky, Missouri Valley, and Southern. Coastal has been winning these games, and the games they lose have been to repeat defending National Champ North Dakota State. Finally, who really wants to be part of the Sun Belt? Given my choice I’d pick Conference USA or the Mid American conference before the Sun Belt.
In response to James. In football, Liberty is 6-6 all time against Coastal. The statement about success out of conference is just not true…Out of conference, In the last few years, Liberty has had wins against JMU, Youngstown State, Western Carolina, Appy State, and Ball State. Those are some pretty good wins from teams in better conferences than the Big South.
I think it was more about a group of public schools wanting to invite another public school, as opposed to a private school like liberty.
Jim, I wasn’t denigrating what Liberty has accomplished at all. I was also referring to performance in all sports. Coastal has won the last couple of Sasser Cups, and frankly they have had better performance when it comes to the other sports that matter (Baseball,and Mens Basketball). I say we hold out until Conference USA comes calling.
sad day.. As a Appalachian State grad with a son at Liberty, I was hoping to see Liberty in the Sunbelt. I even wrote letters to the chancellor. I understand it came down to the votes of the college Presidents. It is pretty obvious what is going on. All I can say is “Stay strong” is still believe that there will be a path for Liberty to become an eventually Sunbelt member.
Having written before on patience, I actually think that Conference USA is a much better fit and one that shows much more upward mobility in the long term. The Sunbelt ceiling would have been realized quickly and we would have been looking to re-locate again shortly. The reality is that advancement to the highest level will depend on the quality of athlete that we can recruit and it is easy to see that the pecking order of conferences outside the power 5 has the sunbelt near the bottom. I, for one was not overly disappointed with the rejection, though like any break up, i wish that I was the one that did the rejecting.