Kickoff for the 2023 Liberty Flames football season is still over six months away, but it’s never too early to begin discussing the upcoming season. ESPN’s Bill Connelly and his SP+ formula has released his preseason rankings for Liberty and the rest of the FBS teams for the 2023 season. The Flames’ projected SP+ rank is No. 85. This is down from last year’s preseason ranking of No. 69.
Here’s how the Conference USA teams rank in the preseason SP+ rankings:
82. Western Kentucky
85. Liberty
90. Louisiana Tech
93. Middle Tennessee
117. UTEP
121. New Mexico State
123. Florida International
124. Sam Houston
126. Jacksonville State
As far as the 2023 non-conference schedule goes, here’s how Liberty’s opponents look:
96. Buffalo
115. Old Dominion
127. UMass
128. Bowling Green
The Flames jumped from 121st to 75th in SP+ postseason rankings from 2018 to 2020. Following the 2021 season, Liberty finished ranked No. 49. At the end of the 2022 campaign, the Flames were ranked No. 73.
The Flames finished the 2022 campaign with an 8-5 record that included marquee wins over BYU and Arkansas. Liberty advanced to a fourth straight bowl game, falling to Toledo in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl. Liberty has now won eight or more games for the 14th season in program history, including all four years as a full FBS member.
Liberty has seen a lot of change since the end of the 2022 season as Jamey Chadwell has taken over as head coach. The Flames will also enter CUSA for the first time, seeking to compete for a conference championship for the first time at the FBS level.
Liberty will open the 2023 season at home against Bowling Green on Sept. 2 with the CUSA opener the following week, Sept. 9, also at home against New Mexico State.
