According to Rocco Miller, Liberty will headline an Orlando ESPN Event field next season. Eight teams will play a three-game, eight-team bracket at Disney World. Official matchups and dates are to be determined, but the event is expected to be during the week of Thanksgiving. According to Miller, joining Liberty in Orlando for this event will be Bradley, Princeton, Rhode Island, Temple, Towson, UC San Diego, and Vermont.
UC San Diego was one of the mid-major darlings this past season. They won 30 games and the Big West regular season and tournament titles, advancing to the NCAA Tournament as a 12-seed. The Tritons lost to Michigan, 68-65, in the first round, finishing the season at 30-5 overall. Bradley has been one of the better mid-major programs in the country, finishing 28-9 this past season, and also welcoming in Liberty transfer big man Kai Yu. Meanwhile, Towson posted a 16-2 mark in CAA play this past season to win the regular season title before falling in the conference tournament, and Vermont just recently had a three-year streak of NCAA Tournament appearances come to an end.
Liberty is coming off a 28-7 season where the Flames were 13-5 in Conference USA, sweeping the regular season and conference tournament titles before advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Liberty lost in the first round of the Big Dance as a 12-seed to 5-seed Oregon. The Flames are set to return several key pieces from last year’s squad including Colin Porter, Kaden Metheny, and Zach Cleveland as they look to repeat as CUSA champs and get back to March Madness.
These are the first games we have learned about Liberty’s non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2025-26 season other than the final year of the three-year Field of 68 Invitational. As part of that event, the Flames will host College of Charleston and FAU at Liberty Arena for a round robin event this upcoming season. Over the past two seasons, Liberty has competed in this event first in Boca Raton, Florida two years ago and last year in Charleston, South Carolina.
