[Geraldos Mustache]

[/quote]

As much as I hate to disagree - I am. If I am his agent - take it while you’re hot.
[/quote]

If you think HCHF is hot now, wait until he goes undefeated in 2021 and beats Ole Miss in Oxford. I have to believe HCHF is laser focused on beating Ole Miss in Oxford. That will be a career achievement. It completes the redemption story. He's not going to bail out short of that moment. He's staying put.

Malik Willis is a senior and will run wild in 2021, barring injury. Liberty has a ton of starters returning and some great recruits who can make immediate contributions. Liberty is loaded, has a soft schedule and HCHF knows he has an opportunity to run the table.

[Tnobes]

Agreed. The upside at liberty is far greater than the upside at Tennessee. Tennessee is a dumpster fire and will remain a dumpster fire no matter who coaches, Hugh freeze would be fired in under 4 years at Tennessee. Tennessee is the Rutgers of the SEC. He'd be a fool to take the Tennessee job.

[JK37]

Agreed. The upside at liberty is far greater than the upside at Tennessee. Tennessee is a dumpster fire and will remain a dumpster fire no matter who coaches, Hugh freeze would be fired in under 4 years at Tennessee. Tennessee is the Rutgers of the SEC. He'd be a fool to take the Tennessee job.

I disagree. This could be semantic, but upside is greater at UT, especially short term. SEC East, roster talent, etc. Freeze could get into the playoff and win a NC much sooner at UT than at LU. But the dumpster fire it is, that is the downside. If Freeze is looking only at short-term upside, UT is an easy choice over LU. What most of us are saying is there’s more to it than that, and that more is why he should avoid UT for LU presently.

[Tnobes]

Tennessee is over a decade away from even sniffing the college football playoffs maybe 15 years and that would be even with Nick Saban going to Tennessee

[LUDad]

As much as I hate to disagree - I am. If I am his agent - take it while you’re hot.
[/quote]

If you think HCHF is hot now, wait until he goes undefeated in 2021 and beats Ole Miss in Oxford. I have to believe HCHF is laser focused on beating Ole Miss in Oxford. That will be a career achievement. It completes the redemption story. He's not going to bail out short of that moment. He's staying put.

Malik Willis is a senior and will run wild in 2021, barring injury. Liberty has a ton of starters returning and some great recruits who can make immediate contributions. Liberty is loaded, has a soft schedule and HCHF knows he has an opportunity to run the table.
[/quote]

I think LU will have Willis 2 more years. He can use his Covid year next year and his senior year the following year. Sure Willis has wheels but I think he will need both years for an nfl team to draft him for his passing. He's got the arm but he needs the time to demonstrate that he can deliver consistently under pressure.

[JK37]

Tennessee is over a decade away from even sniffing the college football playoffs maybe 15 years and that would be even with Nick Saban going to Tennessee

It looks that way now. If Hugh Freeze became their head coach, I simply don’t believe it would take that long to be in contention.

How far away is Liberty? That’s the comparison.

[ballcoach15]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

[tyndal23]

Tennessee is over a decade away from even sniffing the college football playoffs maybe 15 years and that would be even with Nick Saban going to Tennessee

It looks that way now. If Hugh Freeze became their head coach, I simply don’t believe it would take that long to be in contention.

How far away is Liberty? That’s the comparison.

Just wait until UT builds a 100k stadium and sell it out, and have a top 15 recruiting class...oh wait. Kiiffin would have had them in 3 SEC title games by now. Nothing close to Rutgers which btw will be relevant again under Schiano but not even on same planet as coaching challenge to make UT good. Nebraska on the other hand may be forever gone, that was a complete fall of a program and might take Sabin a decade plus..and I despise TN and hope they lose forever - but come on. TN is mirror image of T A&M - just takes the right coach.

[thepostman]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

We have no real chance to ever make rhe CFP as currently set up so by default Tennessee is closer to a CFP opportunity than us. Might not feel very good but it is the truth.

[Tnobes]

Tennessee is over a decade away from even sniffing the college football playoffs maybe 15 years and that would be even with Nick Saban going to Tennessee

It looks that way now. If Hugh Freeze became their head coach, I simply don’t believe it would take that long to be in contention.

How far away is Liberty? That’s the comparison.

Vince lombardi couldn't make tennessee relevant again, Tennessee football is Dead

[Kricket]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

We have no real chance to ever make rhe CFP as currently set up so by default Tennessee is closer to a CFP opportunity than us. Might not feel very good but it is the truth.

Why not? Notre Dame did it as an indy. It would take awhile for us to do it, but I'm wondering why you say it could never happen.

[Purple Haize]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

I do not believe it. Please explain how that is possible

[thepostman]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

We have no real chance to ever make rhe CFP as currently set up so by default Tennessee is closer to a CFP opportunity than us. Might not feel very good but it is the truth.

Why not? Notre Dame did it as an indy. It would take awhile for us to do it, but I'm wondering why you say it could never happen.

It isnt impossible. It just isn't a reasonable expectation when there are only 4 spots. Non P5's have an uphill battle with the CFP and if it is even more difficult for independents not named Notre Dame. So therefore, I don't believe we have a real chance. Any team in the SEC is one good season away from being in the CFP conversation so by default Tennessee is closer than we are whether we like it or not.

[Purple Haize]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

We have no real chance to ever make rhe CFP as currently set up so by default Tennessee is closer to a CFP opportunity than us. Might not feel very good but it is the truth.

Why not? Notre Dame did it as an indy. It would take awhile for us to do it, but I'm wondering why you say it could never happen.

UCF while not an Independent has had the best most legitimate argument and they didn’t get in. ND is in a class by itself. LU is not even in the same Country at this point, let alone same neighborhood when it comes to them.
Everyone wants to focus on ND as an Independent and being in the CFP, but they aren’t the only Independent. Army was 9-2 and didn’t even get a BOWL invite (ok it was cancelled) in this crazy COVID year let a lone a NY6 or CFP game. They had to have a horrible Tennessee team drop out to get a chance to lose to the glorious Mountaineers.
When LU has a couple of Heisman winners, a major network that sets up an exclusive deal to broadcast their games and put up some signature wins then they can start to think about it
For starters how many wins, in the FBS era, does LU have against teams that had winning records?

[ballcoach15]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

I do not believe it. Please explain how that is possible

When final poll is released, please view it. Let me know where Liberty finishes, and where Tennessee finishes.

[Purple Haize]

Believe it or not, Liberty is closer than Tennessee, as of now.

I do not believe it. Please explain how that is possible

When final poll is released, please view it. Let me know where Liberty finishes, and where Tennessee finishes.

What does that have to do with anything? By that metric LU is closer than LSU.

[LUOrange]

We all know that the only we're going to the NC Playoffs is by buying tickets. Next year, running the table MIGHT get us an upper tiered/P5 bowl. Our best chance of being considered for a NY6 Bowl would be running the table in 2022, but even then consideration is different than being selected.

[Cider Jim]

They [Army] had to have a horrible Tennessee team drop out to get a chance to lose to the glorious Mountaineers.

[Kricket]

We have no real chance to ever make rhe CFP as currently set up so by default Tennessee is closer to a CFP opportunity than us. Might not feel very good but it is the truth.

Why not? Notre Dame did it as an indy. It would take awhile for us to do it, but I'm wondering why you say it could never happen.

UCF while not an Independent has had the best most legitimate argument and they didn’t get in. ND is in a class by itself. LU is not even in the same Country at this point, let alone same neighborhood when it comes to them.
Everyone wants to focus on ND as an Independent and being in the CFP, but they aren’t the only Independent. Army was 9-2 and didn’t even get a BOWL invite (ok it was cancelled) in this crazy COVID year let a lone a NY6 or CFP game. They had to have a horrible Tennessee team drop out to get a chance to lose to the glorious Mountaineers.
When LU has a couple of Heisman winners, a major network that sets up an exclusive deal to broadcast their games and put up some signature wins then they can start to think about it
For starters how many wins, in the FBS era, does LU have against teams that had winning records?

This has nothing to do with the question I asked. I asked why someone would believe it's impossible to make the playoffs as an Independent EVER. Postman clarified his thoughts on that well.

Most people know that a 3rd year FBS team is likely quite a bit away from being a top 4 team regardless of conference.

Tennessee is closer than us to the playoffs based on conference affiliatation. We all know that.

It's still not too early for us to talk about how we will get there. I view planning ahead and discussing seemingly impossible things as a way of determining how to make it possible. You can say it is too early, but if our leadership listened to you we'd be talking about competing for an FCS playoff spot instead, and this thread wouldn't exist, because I don't see Freeze being interested in a FCS school.

Also the reason we're talking about this is because Freeze's belief on this topic probably will determine if he stays long term.

The reality of it is, if Freeze doesn't think we can get to the playoffs long term, it's probably best he leaves in the next few years, because we likely would stagnate anyway. We're already almost to the stated goal of being a top G5, which we're all more than appreciative for, to Freeze, McCaw, and even Junior.

What goals you have can cause employees to stay or leave an organizatio, so I think it certainly is appropriate to start considering what the goal is after that. What do you think that should be?

[ballcoach15]

Truth be known, unless playoffs are expanded, ain't nobody making playoffs except Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia, Southern Cal or Oregon.

(unless they put an honest selection committee in that hotel room.)

[olldflame]

Truth be known, unless playoffs are expanded, ain't nobody making playoffs except Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia, Southern Cal or Oregon.

(unless they put an honest selection committee in that hotel room.)

Southern Cal? Oregon probably doesn't belong on that list either.
Take them off and add LSU, and Maybe Florida, and you have the group that almost all playoff teams will come from in the forseeable future.

I do believe however, that any team from a P5 conference can make it in a given year. All they have to do is go undefeated.

[BlueBlood]

I’ve often thought that if they ever go to an 8-team playoff, with the highest ranking non-P5 getting in, that the non-P5 spot might be the easiest slot to secure year after year (unless you are one of the select few P5 schools mentioned above). In that scenario - a competitive non-P5 probably has a much better shot at the playoff than 75% to 85% of the P5 schools.

[Kricket]

I’ve often thought that if they ever go to an 8-team playoff, with the highest ranking non-P5 getting in, that the non-P5 spot might be the easiest slot to secure year after year (unless you are one of the select few P5 schools mentioned above). In that scenario - a competitive non-P5 probably has a much better shot at the playoff than 75% to 85% of the P5 schools.

That's an interesting point.

[LUDad]

It would really be simple to include g5's in playoffs. Simply remove NY6 designation from this game and hold it a week earlier. It would become a play in game beween #4 ranked p5 and #1 ranked g5. This would bring in the Cinderalla aspect of the playoffs and engage the entire g5 nation's intetest in the playoffs.

[Purple Haize]

@Kricket LU should be (and IMO is) positioning themselves to find a landing spot when the next big realignment shake up happens. No one knows what that’s gonna look like but I would wager being an Independent is going to be impossible. I brought up ND because EVERYONE brings up ND when talking about what LU is going to be, as if that’s easy. No one mentions Army. No one mentions New Mexico St. UMASS. Those are also possible scenarios for LU’s future. I don’t THINK that will happen. As long as LU continues to pour money into the football program and good coaching hired they should be fine. But the margin for error is slim
The next step is winning signature games, and that’s going to get more difficult. I can see VT buying out the rest of the contract. Maybe even UVA. Other schools will be reluctant to schedule LU. (There is a partial remedy for that but that’s a different topic maybe) And I wasn’t being snarky. Beating VT was great. I’d say long term bigger than Cure Bowl 2. But how many teams with winning records has LU beaten in the FBS era? You’re not going to make the NY6 beating NMSU 2x’s every year.
As for you snipe about my FCS position I stand by it. I have, fortunately, been proven wrong. Given the information at the time and with back history it made sense. No One knew the amount of money LU was willing to burn to upgrade the program. No one knew they would threaten to sue the NCAA to become FBS Independent. No one knew LU would catch lightning in a bottle with Freeze. Who, as an aside, will pay dividends for years because he showed the non athletic folks who make the decisions what “Big Boy Football “ actually looks like, not what they “think” it looks like. That’s a Hug(h)e piece. I’m not afraid to admit they broke with past performance and so far have had a good result.