[Kricket]

There's too much playoff talk this early. Just focus on 1 game at a time. There will be a lot of upsets across the country this season, I believe.

I’m not a player so my focus doesn’t do much. Also, upsets in college football? No way!

[flamehunter]

There's too much playoff talk this early. Just focus on 1 game at a time. There will be a lot of upsets across the country this season, I believe.

@ballcoach15 When are you going to start a score prediction thread for game 1? We're 4 days away!!

[cruzan_flame13]

And I predict Ohio State wins a natty. That roster is LOOOOAAADDDEEEDDD. Two years in a row for the Big Ten.

With a cupcake schedule, Ryan Day is still likely going to choke like the past few seasons. At least he has a really good winning record on paper

[ballcoach15]

Ohio State reminds me of NY Yankees, tries to buy a

[LUOrange]

And I predict Ohio State wins a natty. That roster is LOOOOAAADDDEEEDDD. Two years in a row for the Big Ten.

With a cupcake schedule, Ryan Day is still likely going to choke like the past few seasons. At least he has a really good winning record on paper

Yeah, I don't think we have much room to make the "cupcake schedule" argument against anyone.

[cruzan_flame13]

And I predict Ohio State wins a natty. That roster is LOOOOAAADDDEEEDDD. Two years in a row for the Big Ten.

With a cupcake schedule, Ryan Day is still likely going to choke like the past few seasons. At least he has a really good winning record on paper

Yeah, I don't think we have much room to make the "cupcake schedule" argument against anyone.

Well we can since one school have a better chance to play a better schedule without any issue because of their brand and/or structure compares to the other in this business. I'm sure Costin/McCaw would gladly swap to be in a better conference plus the brand in a heartbeat. OSU has no excuse to play this sorrowful ooc schedule and to ever make a statement stating that their sos is worthy of a top spot in the cfb playoffs. As I stated before, still, Day will somehow choke even though his schedules have not been the toughest in the BIG10 in that past few seasons.

[ballcoach15]

Big 10 schedules are a joke every season. Pollsters vote for B10 teams, to make it appear they play tough schedules. There are probably 10 SEC teams better than anything in Big 10.

[Dalegarz1]

Ballcoach15!! What a silly (euphemism intended) statement. Apparently SEC stands for “Super Exaggerated Conclusion.

[JK37]

I am no fan of the Bit Ten, but the conference schedule is enough. Cupcakes OOC is fine. Big Ten has Illinois and Indiana. SEC has Vandy.

[cruzan_flame13]

I am no fan of the Bit Ten, but the conference schedule is enough. Cupcakes OOC is fine. Big Ten has Illinois and Indiana. SEC has Vandy.

The only relevant teams, before the the realignment, is Michigan, OSU and slightly Penn State. Everyone else is irrelevant (even though they attempt to make Iowa in the preseason top 25 casually when they don't deserve it). Name another team that has been relevant in the past few years. The only relevant teams they play this 2024 is Oregon, Penn State and Michigan. Everything else is garbage to blue blood standards. Even Michigan has a tougher schedule (Go Blue!). If they were in the SEC, then I'd understand. The only reason the Big 10 was "relevant" was because of tv contracts. Now that Oregon (maybe Washington later on) is involved, their relevancy can increase slightly. Nothing is even close to the SEC, and I'm not even an SEC person. Just a thought.

[ballcoach15]

The SEC 5th place team will be better than Big 10 champion. Big 10 is only slightly above the MAC.

[Dalegarz1]

Ballcoach- you’re evaluation of the Big10 champion is skewed by your bias against any team north of the James river!

[Kricket]

Bump.

3 games is a decent sample size to reassess. At this point what should expectations be for this season?

For me, dream season is somehow winning all of our games and being left out of the CFP. I don’t really see a path to us being in the CFP anymore due to our schedule strength and some of the other schools like UNLV, Memphis, Boise, and NIU out there with big wins or potential big wins. We also haven’t shown a lot of style points and likely won’t.

Realistically 2 losses and a C-USA championship would make me happy but I can’t say I’d be super excited about 3 or more losses. But to me winning C-USA is the most important.

What are you all thinking for success criteria at this point?

[aredd33]

Coming into the season I was hoping for 10-2 regular season. I felt like we lose one between ECU and App State and then slip up somewhere in conference play.
I really still feel the same way.

[Purple Haize]

Coming into the season I was hoping for 10-2 regular season. I felt like we lose one between ECU and App State and then slip up somewhere in conference play.
I really still feel the same way.

That seems pretty accurate. A split the next two weeks and a CUSA loss wouldn’t be fantastic but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
On the other hand winning the next two would be fantastic

[cruzan_flame13]

I didn't know where else to place this, so I'll place it here. Apparently a former LU football player found some film of a game from the past. They thought it was destroyed amongst everything else on treasure island, but here it is:

https://watch.liberty.edu/embed/secure/ ... 74572/st/0

A little moment from the past. Hopefully, according to former Ath. Derector Phillips, that we'll play at the top of the highest level in our time

[Kricket]

I think our CFP chances look nearly impossible so this might be a waste of chance thing this, but I suppose weirder things have happened. While I think our shot is pretty much zero on making it, I’d like to stay in the discussion as long as possible because I think it’s good for Liberty’s brand.

NIU lost to Buffalo and Memphis lost to Navy. JMU has entered the race for that CFP G5 slot.

[ballcoach15]

If JMU makes CFP, they should cancel it

[JK37]

If they earn it, good for them.

I don’t think I Liberty would’ve scored 70 at UNC. JMU objectively looks good.

[thepostman]

And I wish we played them every year. It won't happen but it makes so much sense.

[ballcoach15]

I have zero love for JMU .

[tyndal23]

I think our CFP chances look nearly impossible so this might be a waste of chance thing this, but I suppose weirder things have happened. While I think our shot is pretty much zero on making it, I’d like to stay in the discussion as long as possible because I think it’s good for Liberty’s brand.

NIU lost to Buffalo and Memphis lost to Navy. JMU has entered the race for that CFP G5 slot.

Not at all a waste as a fan - I mean that is what we are playing for and the goal. NIU and Toledo losses just canceled each other out of MAC, Memphis loss was big. 3 very unexpected just gave us a much better shot. If JMU wins out - they 100% earn it - same with Navy,Army, UNLV. We were never in control with this schedule, and I have said before - odds are better this year than last year due to schedules for the other G5 to “lose” the slot to us. Now that I have seen a good 2 quarters in a row from O and D at same time against equal talent - I have some optimism that LU can be a complete team and a fighting chance to handle business. I sort of like the media kicked us to the curb early ( rightfully so ) and we can quietly sneak up the board as season progresses.

[AATL]

There are a couple of solid CUSA games to keep an eye on this weekend:

WKU at Boston College
Other than a thrashing at the hands of Alabama, WKU looks like they've taken a step forward this year. They're fresh off a nice win over a solid and previously-undefeated Toledo team. Caden Veltkamp has looked pretty solid and has put up a 73.9% completion percentage so far. They pasted MTSU in their rivalry game. Boston College probably beats them, but this seems like a winnable P4 game and a good measuring stick.

Texas State and Sam Houston
Sam Houston has manhandled Rice, Hawaii, and NMSU. Texas State looks like they're competing at the top of the Sun Belt this year and will be a significant step up in competition. Texas State is currently an 8.5-point favorite. That feels high.. looking forward to seeing how SHSU stacks up.

[Humble_Opinion]

JMU looked good, but they've also had consistency issues this year. They almost lost to Gardner Webb a week and a half ago. While it seems they turned a corner, I think it's safe to say that UNC gave them an assist by basically not showing up to the game. Their coaching staff seems pretty good though, so it's possible they make a run, but the Sun Belt has several quality teams so I still see them slipping up at some point.

[Ill flame]

UNLVs QB just announced he's sitting out the rest of the season and redshirting. Not only does it set a terrible precedent, UNLV can also kiss their undefeated season goodbye within the next week or two. After 2 P4 wins and a chance at a 3rd they were likely to get a CFP bid over us even with 2 losses but that seems unlikely now.