[olldflame]

With the final baseball game completed, the ASUN website has tabulated the final results for the 3 All-Sports trophies. Liberty won the Jesse Fletcher trophy for men's sports, the Sherman Day trophy for women's sports and the Bill Bibb trophy for combined men's and women's sports. FGCU was second in all 3 categories.

[tyndal23]

haven’t researched nationally but I would say LU really made a national presence in athletics this year - another random/unexpected team that popped up ( at a higher level ) that makes little sense based on geography - Texas Tech.

[olldflame]

They just made it official.

https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cf ... wsID=22094

Not sure why they feel it necessary to delay the official results so long. Everything that mattered was determined almost 2 weeks ago on may 18, the day the regular season ended in baseball. Tournament results have no bearing on these.

[Jonathan Carone]

So were we significantly better this year or were we in a worse conference? Or both?

[SumItUp]

We were better and the conference is better.

[olldflame]

We were better and the conference is better.

I agree. Last year we won the Sasser cup overall, but finished second to Campbell in mens and to High Point in womens. Overall, I think the ASUN is a bit stronger conference, and we definitely had a better year across the board.

[ballah09]

Both. ASun is a far superior conference.

[olldflame]

Both. ASun is a far superior conference.

To say the ASUN is "far superior" would be hyperbole IMHO. It is significantly better in a few sports and about equal in most.

[thepostman]

The ASun is certianly better but not by a ton. It is a good fit for us right now and seems to be run better than the Big South which has been the biggest difference to me.

[ballah09]

I would say Men's soccer, Tennis and LaCrosse are about even but everything else ASUN is much better. Sweet Sixteen in WSoccer, Two top 25 Golf programs, MBB, MSoccer, Volleyball, and Softball all had postseason wins. Can't think of a school outside of Coastal that won anything in postseason besides a meaningless CBI game.

[olldflame]

I would say Men's soccer, Tennis and LaCrosse are about even but everything else ASUN is much better. Sweet Sixteen in WSoccer, Two top 25 Golf programs, MBB, MSoccer, Volleyball, and Softball all had postseason wins. Can't think of a school outside of Coastal that won anything in postseason besides a meaningless CBI game.

The ASUN had a great year, thanks in no small part to the "trade" of SC-Upstate for Liberty. Liberty also had a great year; probably our best ever. However, the idea that we could go from finishing second in both men's and women's sports last year in the BSC and win both this year in the ASUN if the ASUN is really that much better is pretty hard for me to swallow. The unprecedented success of ASUN teams in post season this year is impressive, but it is in fact unprecedented. History says they are not that good. Let's see what happens in the next couple of years. Sometimes tournament "upsets" come down to the luck of the draw, where you get a favorable matchup. One could argue that was the case with our MBB team. If the conference continues to win in the post season at anything resembling the rate they did this year, I'll concede the point. Till then, I'm in the "better, but not that much better" camp.

[LUDad]

I would say Men's soccer, Tennis and LaCrosse are about even but everything else ASUN is much better. Sweet Sixteen in WSoccer, Two top 25 Golf programs, MBB, MSoccer, Volleyball, and Softball all had postseason wins. Can't think of a school outside of Coastal that won anything in postseason besides a meaningless CBI game.

Campbell baseball team got a 3 seed in ECU regional and won their first two games before losing two straight in Championship bracket.