The 2026 college football season officially kicked off this past weekend with a handful of games for Week 0. Now, we are full steam ahead towards Week 1 with a full slate of games including Liberty’s season opener this Saturday at James Madison.
Several outlets have released their preseason bowl projections and we have assembled those projections for where Liberty is being pegged.
- Athlon Sports (Steve Lasasan): Boca Raton Bowl vs Troy
- Pro Football Network: Frisco Football Classic vs Appalachian State
- CBS Sports: New Orleans Bowl vs Old Dominion
- ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): New Orleans Bowl vs Troy
- ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Independence Bowl vs West Virginia
- The Athletic (Scott Dochterman): 68 Ventures Bowl vs Troy
- USA Today (Erick Smith): Independence Bowl vs Oklahoma State
- Sporting News (Bill Bender): Myrtle Beach Bowl vs Arkansas State
- College Football News: New Orleans Bowl vs Old Dominion
- Palm Brackets (Jerry Palm): New Orleans Bowl vs Louisiana
The Flames are looking to recapture some of the magic from the 2023 CUSA Championship team while getting back to another bowl game. The Flames finished the 2024 campaign with an 8-4 record that included a loss to Buffalo in the Bahamas Bowl. It marked a sixth straight appearance in a bowl game. Last year, Liberty slipped to 4-8 on the season, the worst record for the program in 20 years and missing a bowl game for the first time since joining the FBS in 2019. Can Liberty right the ship and get back to a bowl game this fall?
Liberty’s bowl history (3-3)
2019: Cure Bowl, W vs Georgia Southern, 23-16
2020: Cure Bowl, W vs #12 Coastal Carolina, 37-34 OT
2021: LendingTree Bowl, W vs Eastern Michigan, 56-20
2022: Boca Raton Bowl, L vs Toledo, 21-19
2023: Fiesta Bowl, L vs #8 Oregon, 45-6
2024: Bahamas Bowl, L vs Buffalo, 26-7
