Liberty will face Vermont in their first game of the 2025 Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational on Monday of Thanksgiving week, as announced earlier this week.
The Flames and Catamounts will square off in a quarterfinal matchup of this event on Nov. 24 at 1:30 p.m. at Walt Disney World Resort’s State Farm Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida, and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The winner of that matchup will face the winner of Rhode Island and Towson on Tuesday, Nov. 255 at Noon on ESPN2 while the two losers will meet at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday on ESPNU. The other side of the bracket features Temple vs UC San Diego and Princeton vs Bradley. Liberty will play one of those four teams on the third and final day of the event on Wednesday, Nov. 26. The championship game is scheduled for Noon on ESPN2.
Liberty and Vermont have met one time previously, with the squads squaring off in the 2023 Myrtle Beach Invitational title game. The Flames claimed the Myrtle Beach Invitational championship with a 71-61 win. Both teams have won 10 or more championships (regular season/division and tournament titles) over the last seven seasons as they have both established themselves as premier mid-major programs. Liberty ranks No. 6 nationally with 177 wins over the past seven years while Vermont is tied for 14th in the country with 163 victories in that span.
As for the rest of Liberty’s non-conference schedule, it will be officially released at a later date. As we first reported, the Flames are scheduled to play at Dayton, the first game of a home and homer series, in Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 20. Dayton is led by head coach Anthony Grant who is entering his 9th season leading the program. The Flyers posted a 23-11 record last season and 12-6 mark in the A10 before advancing to the NIT. Grant is 172-82 during his time at Dayton with four NIT appearances and a trip to the Big Dance in 2024 where they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following a win over Nevada.
The Flames are also scheduled for a trip to Raleigh to take on NC State while hosting Charleston and FAU in the Field of 68 Event in Lynchburg.
Returning starters Colin Porter, Kaden Metheny, and Zach Cleveland highlight a group that return to help lead Coach McKay’s Flames this coming season. The Flames will be looking to repeat as Conference USA Champs after sweeping the regular season and conference tournament titles last year before advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
A look at Liberty’s 2025-26 schedule that we know so far:
TBD vs FAU
TBD vs Charleston
TBD @ NC State
11/24 vs Vermont ESPN Event
11/25 vs Rhode Island/Towson ESPN Event
11/26 TBD ESPN Event
12/20 @ Dayton
12/28 @ FIU*
01/02 vs Kennesaw State*
01/04 vs Jax State*
01/08 @ Louisiana Tech *
01/10 @ Sam Houston*
01/15 vs New Mexico State*
01/17 vs UTEP*
01/21 @ Western Kentucky*
01/24 vs Delaware*
01/28 @ Middle Tennessee*
02/04 @ Delaware*
02/07 vs Missouri State*
02/11 @ New Mexico State*
02/14 @ UTEP*
02/18 vs FIU*
02/21 vs Western Kentucky*
02/26 @ Kennesaw State*
02/28 @ Jacksonville State*
03/05 vs Louisiana Tech*
03/07 vs Sam Houston*
03/10-14 CUSA Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama
