[BJWilliams]

You have 7 years already built in for that. 2025 you go Big Boy Schedule.

From the Future Schedules thread:
2025

Aug 30 - Wake Forest
Sep 06 - Western Kentucky
Sep 13 - Ball State
Sep 20 - @ Army
Sep 27 - Miami (OH)
Oct 04 - @ Georgia Southern
Oct 11 - Open
Oct 18 - Open
Oct 25 - Open
Nov 01 - UMass
Nov 08 - Open
Nov 15 - Open
Nov 22 - @ Duke

We open and close against ACC schools so in order to fulfill tyndal's definition of a "big boy schedule" we would need at minimum 3 more P5 schools who would be open to inserting a non-conference FBS independent or some hefty buyout checks for the early G5 non-cons to clear the way for P5s

[ALAFlamesFan]

Army and Georgia Southern in the same season?! Safe bet our run defense will not be looking good in 2025.

[tyndal23]

So much better watching LU playing P5 than G5 schools. Let’s do it 6-7 times a year ASAP !!!

[Purple Haize]

So much better watching LU playing P5 than G5 schools. Let’s do it 6-7 times a year ASAP !!!

You realize they lost, right?

[BJWilliams]

Not to mention you do know how many hundreds of millions theyd be paying in buyouts the next few years to even make that happen?

[Jonathan Carone]

Hundreds of millions, Beej?

[tyndal23]

ASAP means just that. I am preaching to Admin not the fan base - pick a year 2026 now ? Stop scheduling G5 in Sept and only the weeks we absolutely cant fill with P5. Schedule Up, Hire Up, Recruit Up !!!!

[lawrenceq]

Army and Georgia Southern in the same season?! Safe bet our run defense will not be looking good in 2025.

Wimbo will have them ready by then.

[BJWilliams]

Hundreds of millions, Beej?

Ok hundreds of millions might be overblowing the situation after ive had some time to sleep on it, but we probably would have to pay out alot of game buyouts to have a CHANCE to get more P5 games on the schedule.

I trust Ian and Mickey are working hard to get quality home and away games for our future football schedules. And while it is true that people from the administration do read this board tyndal, i think it would be easier to make more direct contact and expressing your passion for that sort of thing

[ballcoach15]

Maybe we should do like Notre Dame, find a conference and schedule 5 games a season with that conference. ND did that with ACC.

[Chris Lang]

And Notre Dame didn't really want to do that ... it was the price to pay for being ACC in all other sports. The ACC essentially forced Notre Dame's hand on that one.

[LUOrange]

And Notre Dame didn't really want to do that ... it was the price to pay for being ACC in all other sports. The ACC essentially forced Notre Dame's hand on that one.

And we're just not good enough in all of our sports.... I mean, we're just not good enough in football and/or basketball yet to have that problem yet.

[ballcoach15]

I have yet to understand why ACC wanted Notre Dame for any sport ? Even though I despise ND, they do win in other sports at times, and they beat ACC teams in all sports. Not smart move by ACC.

[Purple Haize]

I have yet to understand why ACC wanted Notre Dame for any sport ? Even though I despise ND, they do win in other sports at times, and they beat ACC teams in all sports. Not smart move by ACC.

Their WBB isn’t half bad. Have more NC than their Football team over the past 20 years

[tyndal23]

You can’t lose your way to prominence. No one says “yeah they went 2-10 but look at that schedule!”. If we want to be a P5 type team I think that is a terrific aspiration. A couple of teams have pulled that sort of thing off. Boise State and UCF come to mind. What they didn’t do was load their schedule full of losses so they could say they played a P5 schedule.

Let me just go ahead and “in before they don’t get love from the playoff committee”.

Neither will we with a losing record. Which is exactly what we will have for the foreseeable future playing 7-8 P5’s a year with 3-4 home games.

Crawl before you walk. Walk before you run.

Again, I would agree IF LU were like 99 percent of rest of Football. G5 confernces passed on us. So we get to be Indy and make our own schedule - so we turn around and schedule 4 P5 games and the rest G5 - what is it we are trying to be - a respected G5 Indy ( if so - why ? ). If you want to go that route schedule max 2 P5 teams and be 21 point underdogs because recruits are going to stay G5 recruits - coaching caliber is going to be G5. 4 games isn’t enough to sway a top recruit and top coaching staff OR have a conference clear their members to count your game as a P5 Opponent. 6-7 games changes that for all accounts ( regardless of record ). All 4 P5 games does is make it nearly impossible to be bowl eligible - so you get the worst of both sides. As for crawl,walk,run - that philosphy would put us 20 years out getting to a P5 schedule. Attendance for a 4-8 team that plays P5 games will be better than an 8-4 G5 record OR here is a thought - you bring in coaching staff and tap your National recruiting advantage you have among conservative minded athletes and play big boy ball before the robots take over. LU wasn’t any better in 2016 than they were in 1988 ( actually quite a bit worse ) after 28 years of FCS. And yes LU made the playoffs in 88 but we turned them down because JF had already offered Rutigliano and couldn’t fire Hout if he made playoffs in 1st year FCS ( for those who don’t know )...G5 is glorified FCS without a playoff - no one cares - no point in trying to prove anything at G5 level for 30 years -load up P5 schedule- “build it and they will come”.

[Jonathan Carone]

At what point do we all realize this is just one guy spouting the P5 stuff and start ignoring it because it makes absolutely no sense?

[Purple Haize]

Build it and they will come only works for ball fields in iowa

[tyndal23]

Then go the route that “makes sense” - why schedule unwinnable 4 P5 games a year if your goal is to be a good G5 team first while you slowly build to be something 20 years from now? Straddling the fence gets you nowhere. If you are going to schedule 4 - then schedule 6-7 go all in OR be real and schedule 1 or 2 and give yourself a shot at best record and bowl. I prefer going all in as early as possible, will settle for the common sense route - BUT ridiculous is how we are scheduling next 4-5 years out.

[SumItUp]

At what point do we all realize this is just one guy spouting the P5 stuff and start ignoring it because it makes absolutely no sense?

Are we looking for groupthink concensus?

I agree that the gradual build is the safest route to take, but Liberty is a unique school that could go all in and make a de facto jump to P5 as an independent. The only way that it happens is if the administration makes that call. At this point, they have displayed a strong level of commitment by making the jump as an independent. The scheduling work that has been done to this point is commendable and was not easy. Will JFJr and administration give Ian and staff the marching orders and green light to go big? It would be interesting and exciting.

Tyndal23, I like your posts. Keep it up.

[JK37]

Ballcoach ... Notre Dame’s home football games are on NBC. But those road ACC games and MBB games always get good ratings. So ND was advatangeous to the ACC for TV deals in both sports. Oh and just like Haize said, their WBB program is one of just a few viable ones in the nation. Not too shabby.

[Class of 20Something]

If we stick with four P5 games, we lock in our SOS every year. Behind all the P5, above all the G5. If Liberty goes undefeated, we would ha e a better claim at the playoff than UCF. Going past 4 P5 games is just trying to make conversation for a 1 loss Liberty team in the playoff.

If we could manage a 4 game deal with the American, then do 4 P5 and 4 Indy games(NMSU, UMass, Army, BYU) that would be a scheduling sweet spot for me. That SOS is above G5 and probably enough to get some P5 recognition from P5. For reference BYU has 5 P5 games this season and 4 next season. Notre Dame has 10.

[tyndal23]

JMU fans talking about HC Houston leaving for Charlotte - most talking trash on UNCC and program but one poster makes a great point about Charlotte potential of being next UCF based on city, enrollment and big $ donors and best chance of getting invited to p5 in 10 years vs Merit of the other big name G5 schools FB programs. ( which I completely agree with ). Other than seats in the stands fan base potential ( due to city ) for home games I see LU having an advantage over them based on national appeal and actual $ and not just donor $. Local TV markets carry much less weight than 5 years ago and will have much less to do with future TV contracts. Hope Admin keeping an eye on strategic plan of how not to be a stepping stone coaching gig but a big pic long term P5 player.

[thepostman]

Yeah UCF is a great comparison for a school like UNCC. It wasn't so long ago that people in Orlando thought it would be impossible for UCF to be doing what they are doing. I was going to say the rest of the country thought it was impossible as well but the rest of the country didn't even know UCF existed.

Now they are the defending National Champions!

[rogers3]

JMU fans talking about HC Houston leaving for Charlotte - most talking trash on UNCC and program but one poster makes a great point about Charlotte potential of being next UCF based on city, enrollment and big $ donors and best chance of getting invited to p5 in 10 years vs Merit of the other big name G5 schools FB programs. ( which I completely agree with ). Other than seats in the stands fan base potential ( due to city ) for home games I see LU having an advantage over them based on national appeal and actual $ and not just donor $. Local TV markets carry much less weight than 5 years ago and will have much less to do with future TV contracts. Hope Admin keeping an eye on strategic plan of how not to be a stepping stone coaching gig but a big pic long term P5 player.

It is amazing how arrogant and myopic fans can be. Their board reminds me a bit of ours.

[BlueBlood]

If Liberty football improves to the point where P5s consider them a potentially dangerous team, how difficult does Independent scheduling get?

At a minimum, Liberty would probably lose those November games where P5s schedule them before their rivalry game. Also, even if a P5 does schedule them, I don't see giving two away games for one home game going away - which means that the Liberty home schedule will always be less appealing.

BYU has several advantages that make scheduling easier for them - built in rivalries with Utah at Utah St, being considered P5 equivalent, and having a football pedigree that makes them a brand name (and an acceptable loss if they beat their P5 opponent). Even with those advantages, I've read articles that say scheduling is tough for them.

In theory, being an FBS independent sounds more appealing to me than being in a G5 conference. I just wonder if scheduling becomes even more difficult as the team improves.