FOOTBALL PREVIEW
If you haven’t noticed, we’ve kicked off a couple of football season preview series as we countdown toward kickoff in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech on September 3rd. One series is ranking the teams on the schedule 1-11. So far, we’ve ranked #11 Robert Morris and #10 Jacksonville. Be on the lookout for #9 on the list soon. We’ve also started a series which will feature various topics counting down from 10. We’ve started with 10 numbers to know and 9 things to know about the non-conference schedule. Another series, entitled “most important Flames”, will launch next week. This will countdown the 10 most important Flames to the team’s success in 2016. So, keep an eye out for that series. While not a series, several of our contributors got together to answer a few burning questions on the 2016 season in our Football Roundtable. We had a lot of good feedback on this feature and we may do something similar again. Football will be here before you know it and we’re just doing our best to help you pass the next 50 days!
BASKETBALL PREVIEW
While football is king on the mountain, we’re keeping our eye on what Coach McKay is building on the hardwood. We’re in the middle of a 4-part series previewing the men’s basketball 2016-17 season. Hopefully you caught the first 2 features, Predicting the Starting Lineup & Rotation and Where Does Liberty Stand in the Big South? The next piece in this series will be published in the next couple of weeks.
WBB HOSTING DUKE, BSC TOURNEY
The women’s basketball team will be hosting Duke on November 11th. The Lady Blue Devils are one of the premier programs in country as they had reached the NCAA Tournament 21 straight seasons, a streak that ended this past year. The Big South also announced that Liberty will be hosting the Big South Women’s Basketball Tournament for the next 3 seasons beginning with the 2017 championship.
BASEBALL COACHING SEARCH UPDATE
As we are entering week 4 in the search for the next baseball coach, Kendall Rogers has reported that Mercer’s Craig Gibson is no longer being considered. Gibson is a name that had gained some traction. Rogers also reports that Ball State’s Rich Maloney was being considered, has interviewed, and has subsequently withdrawn his name from consideration. Plenty of smoke surrounding North Carolina assistant Scott Jackson, with several outlets reporting he had been offered the job and others even saying he was expected to accept it. Some of these reporters began to back down late Thursday night. Jackson is certainly a finalist, and he may end up getting the job, but as of now he is not Liberty’s baseball coach. Stay tuned as we’re nearing the conclusion of this search. I would expect a new coach to be named by early next week if not sooner.
