Spring football has concluded for Liberty as the Flames look forward to Year 4 of the Jamey Chadwell era.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly updated his SP+ team rankings recently. ESPN’s SP+ rankings are based on four factors: returning production, recent recruiting, recent history, and coaching change effects. Here is his complete ranking here. The Flames’ preseason SP+ ranking is No. 93. This is down from last year’s preseason ranking of No. 69 and the team’s 2024 preseason ranking of 38.

Here’s how the Conference USA teams rank in the preseason SP+ rankings:

86. Western Kentucky
93. Liberty
98. Jacksonville State
105. Kennesaw State
114. Delaware
118. FIU
123. New Mexico State
126. Missouri State
135. Middle Tennessee
136. Sam Houston

As far as the 2026 non-conference schedule goes, here’s how Liberty’s opponents look:

77. James Madison
119. Coastal Carolina
134. Ball State
N/A Gardner-Webb

That’s an average of 110 for the Flames’ FBS non-conference opponents which is down from last year’s average preseason non-conference SP+ ranking of 87.6.

The top 10 G6 teams in this preseason ranking:

39. Boise State
59. UNLV
68. New Mexico
70. Memphis
71. San Diego State
72. North Dakota State
73. UTSA
76. East Carolina
77. James Madison
78. Fresno State

And a look at where the FBS programs in Virginia rank:

32. Virginia Tech
40. Virginia
77. James Madison
88. Old Dominion
93. Liberty

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. At the end of the 2023 season, Liberty saw its postseason all-time high finish in the SP+ rankings of No. 33.

The Flames finished the 2023 campaign with a 13-1 record that included a CUSA Championship in the program’s first season in its FBS league home and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl as the highest ranked Group of Five Conference champion. It was a fifth straight bowl game appearance, where the Flames lost to No. 8 Oregon. Following an 8-4 season in 2024, Liberty fell to 4-8 in 2025, ending a streak of eight straight seasons with eight or more wins.

Liberty will open the 2026 season at James Madison on September 5.