[Cider Jim]

Any chance we will put together some packages? Charter a flight , book a block of rooms, tickets, some activities, etc. for a flat fee?

The Flames Club is working on that. Texts and emails went out this afternoon.

[Sly Fox]

Yeah, you can always get cheaper tickets in the secondary market. But buying through LU has an impact on our buying prowess for future bowl games. It is essentially a non-tax exempt donation to the Flames Club in most cases. If you have the ability financially, it is the way to go.

The guy who answered at Flames Club for me this afternoon said they would get activities info out in a few days. But that is what is giving me pause for flights. It costs me roughly the same to fly to PHX on Friday or Saturday and a bit more on Sunday. The early kickoff makes flying out an option after the game in most cases. But I could also book my son & I out the next morning.

[jmclaughlin]

No complaint…we don’t want to be the dog that caught the car but…
Oregon deserves a better opponent and we would have matched up much better with some of the other NY6 teams on the docked.

Regardless, we need to show up! Win or lose the LU fan base has to be visible.

[Purple Haize]

When does ballcoach start pedaling west?

You win the Internet today

[Purple Haize]

You can now buy tickets through the Liberty tickets site.

If you are a Flames Club member (starting at just $75), you can get tix starting at $170 in LU section. You can also get club seats for nearly twice that amount.

Buying tickets through Liberty instead of open market makes a difference in how our school is viewed by future bowl selection folks. It is a way for you to support the school in a tangible way.

Flames Club members will also get a schedule of events that lead up to gameday in the Phoenix area. As someone who has covered this game in the past, I can assure those events leading up to the game are pretty awesome.

The problem is I don’t know where I’m sitting with a $170 ticket or a $320 ticket

[ballah09]

In Oregons press conference, Bo Nix is playing along with the other NFL prospects. That includes his two stud Wrs.

I really hope Kendy is ready by then and that our defense is well prepared or it’s going to be a loooong night.

[LU 57]

I get the need to buy through the Flames Club, but they are sooooo much cheaper on StubHub, SeatGeek, etc...

[aredd33]

I got my tickets through the flames club. Got my plane tickets. Still working on a place to lay my head.

[Purple Haize]

I got my tickets through the flames club. Got my plane tickets. Still working on a place to lay my head.

Doubletree North Phoenix has a good rate. ~4_5 miles from Glendale

[Ill flame]

No complaint…we don’t want to be the dog that caught the car but…
Oregon deserves a better opponent and we would have matched up much better with some of the other NY6 teams on the docked.

Regardless, we need to show up! Win or lose the LU fan base has to be visible.

Who else would we have matched up better against other than maybe mizzou? We are going to give up 30+ points to any one of those NY6 teams but I feel like we are going to be able to move the ball much better against Oregon than most of the others.

[jmclaughlin]

No complaint…we don’t want to be the dog that caught the car but…
Oregon deserves a better opponent and we would have matched up much better with some of the other NY6 teams on the docked.

Regardless, we need to show up! Win or lose the LU fan base has to be visible.

Who else would we have matched up better against other than maybe mizzou? We are going to give up 30+ points to any one of those NY6 teams but I feel like we are going to be able to move the ball much better against Oregon than most of the others.

I think Oregon is stout. Would have preferred to play Penn St, Mizzu or Ole Miss. Again - no complaint. Your point about matchup of our O v their D is valid.
This is big for all things LU regardless of outcome.

[aredd33]

Is this the best football team Liberty has ever played?

[Kricket]

You can now buy tickets through the Liberty tickets site.

If you are a Flames Club member (starting at just $75), you can get tix starting at $170 in LU section. You can also get club seats for nearly twice that amount.

Buying tickets through Liberty instead of open market makes a difference in how our school is viewed by future bowl selection folks. It is a way for you to support the school in a tangible way.

Flames Club members will also get a schedule of events that lead up to gameday in the Phoenix area. As someone who has covered this game in the past, I can assure those events leading up to the game are pretty awesome.

The problem is I don’t know where I’m sitting with a $170 ticket or a $320 ticket

Yeah, I just got our tickets through Liberty, but I still don't know what section I bought. A lot of money... but I guess we'll just be surprised.

[BlueBlood]

Can we talk about ESPN’s treatment of LU?

It seems to me that ESPN has purposely ignored and minimized LU all season long. Am I alone on this? You can tell me I’m wrong and I’m open to it. Sometimes you see what you want to see.

They’ve been quick the last couple years to embrace and promote Coastal, App and JMU when they are rolling. They seem to love a good G5 story. But, when LU does similar things, it seems to get overlooked or ignored.

When Gameday was in Harrisonburg, I kept thinking that at some point there would almost have to be a mention that “there’s another undefeated FBS team on the other side of that line of mountains”. Nothing. That particular show was celebrating G5 football and no mention at all.

Last night and today ESPN personalities were openly stumping for SMU. Their graphics regarding SMU vs LU records used SOS and FPI only - both stats favoring SMU. No mention of SOR or number of wins against bowl eligible teams - both which favor LU. Notably - they used the later info when differentiating between UT, Bama, FSU and UGa. But, they buried it regarding LU/SMU.

They seemed pained today that we got the nod.

What’s the deal?

Tell me you’ve been noticing too - or that I’m crazy.

BTW - kudos to the committee for sticking with LU. After FSU got left out of the 4, I convinced myself that they would pick SMU as a makeup call to the ACC.

[ballcoach15]

You are 100% correct.

[Kricket]

Is this the best football team Liberty has ever played?

I don’t know if we ever took a money game against a power team in our distant past. This Oregon team is the best team I can recall us playing. This is a championship level team. They have destroyed almost everyone except Washington.

[jack_sparrow81]

Ole Miss was ranked #11 when we played them a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure Oregon is the best team we've played

[AATL]

Is this the best football team Liberty has ever played?

Yes, at least in the FBS era. This team was a 10+ point favorite in the PAC-12 title game, has a Heisman frontrunner at quarterback playing his 9823rd year of college football, and was a near betting favorite for the national title until about 24 hours ago. This is an elite college football team.

[jack_sparrow81]

Actually if you want to count this Coastal was ranked #9 in one of the polls when we played them in 2020

[Sly Fox]

When you buy through the Flames Club, they will guarantee you the tickets and then assign best available seats based on donor level later this week. That's the story I received.

Considering how notoriously cheap our fanbase is known to be, I would guess that if you buy club level seats regardless of your status you will get some prime seats. But that is just my hypothesis.

My old LU roommate has connections with the Fiesta Bowl committee. The prices he was quoted directly from the organization were only about 10% better than what the Flames Club was offering. Yes, I am aware of the cheaper seats on some of the ticket vending sites. Just remember all of the fees that get attached to the listed price can sometimes exceed the cost of the ticket itself.

[Purple Haize]

Everyone who has been clamoring that LU is a Big Time program and wants to be considered as such need to buy tickets from the LU allotment. It’s what P5 teams and teams fan bases who want to be taken seriously do. It’s that simple.

[prototype]

Got my plane tickets, tickets, hotel and rental. Bringing 11 to support the Flames. We have to step up and buy our allotment. We have 135K current enrolled students, so many alumni everywhere - it's time to step up and show your support.

[AATL]

Some links and media of interest for those familiarizing themselves with our Nike-laden adversaries:

FIESTA BOWL MEDIA

• Dan Lanning's Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBF0yztlCA

OREGON NEWS & COVERAGE

• Addicted to Quack - SB Nation umbrella: https://www.addictedtoquack.com/

• Ducks Wire - USA Today umbrella: https://duckswire.usatoday.com/

• Autzen Zoo - Fansided umbrella: https://autzenzoo.com/

SCOUTING

• Oregon Offensive Breakdown: https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2023/11/29/ ... s-football

• Oregon Defensive Breakdown: https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2023/11/30/ ... on-huskies

WHAT DO THE COMPUTERS THINK?
Oregon / Liberty

• Overall SP+: 25.0 (5th) / 11.8 (21st)

• Offensive SP+: 45.0 (1st) / 38.4 (9th)

• Defensive SP+: 19.3 (19th) / 24.8 (51st)

• Special Teams SP+ -0.8 (89th) / -1.9 (122nd)

• FEI: 1.41 (2nd) / 0.49 (25th)

• Massey Rating: 9th / 34th

[Ill flame]

Can we talk about ESPN’s treatment of LU?

It seems to me that ESPN has purposely ignored and minimized LU all season long. Am I alone on this? You can tell me I’m wrong and I’m open to it. Sometimes you see what you want to see.

You're not just seeing things. Sports channels are a lot like news channels with how blatantly biased they are. ESPN is the most blatant about it and is getting worse but CBS and fox aren't much better. At the end of the day everyone is trying to protect their assets and ESPN has the most skin in the game. CBSSN has put graphics on the screen to try to make the best case for Liberty and I've seen more "look how great of a season Liberty is having" type shout outs on CBS pre game/halftime shows than on ESPN or fox. So we do have someone in our corner to an extent.

There's a reason the sunbelt loves their TV deal even though they get the least tv exposure of any conference and why the SEC largely relegated themselves to cable by exclusively signing with ESPN. They enjoy having the full backing of the ESPN hype machine on their side rather than CBS or fox who has less influence. I'm just glad we have someone on our side for once even if it's an island of misfit toys.

Fox Sports:
Big Ten
MWC
Big 12 (to a smaller extent)

CBS:
SEC (historically)
CUSA

ESPN:
SEC
AAC
Sunbelt
ACC (to a smaller extent)

[BlueBlood]

I’ve noticed CBS being much more of an CUSA and LU ally. I totally get ESPN promoting the SEC and ACC over the B1G - because of their financial interest. It’s irritating (because sometimes you just want the unfiltered sports news, not a blatantly biased take or suggesting “there is nothing to see over there”), but I get why they are doing it.

CUSA does have a contract with ESPN (albeit a smaller one). Which is why I think I was a bit surprised by the noticeably cold shoulder.

I remember when ESPN lost their NHL contract years ago. ESPN literally stopped reporting on hockey right away. They started pushing drone racing and mma (before it was popular) and Canadian football. Then they got the NHL contract again and bam - they immediately started reporting on it again.