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"Liberty University football to join FBS as independent

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WSET) -- Liberty University has announced that the school's football program will join the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent....

...As an independent, it means that Liberty University is not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference.
This means that the school will not be required to schedule other schools for competition like conference schools do.

All Division I FBS independents are eligible for the College Football Playoff (CFP), or for the so-called "access bowls" associated with the CFP, if they are chosen by the CFP selection committee..."
http://wset.com/news/local/liberty-univ ... ndependent

How can this be? The NCAA has already declared that you cannot move up without a conference invite.

Brett McMurphy
‏@McMurphyESPN
Liberty has scheduled 4:30 p.m. news conference to announce plans on moving from FCS to FBS, source told @ESPN
https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN

Congrats Liberty. I saw this coming with the stadium expansion. I wish Eastern Washington would expand & move up. Actually I hope EWU, Montana & Montana State all move up together.

BDKJMU wrote:How can this be? The NCAA has already declared that you cannot move up without a conference invite.

Exactly.

The NCAA enacted that rule because of how hard it is to survive as a FBS independent. Heck, even the service academies, for decades independents save for Air Force, have joined leagues. This is a trainwreck waiting to happen....

SuperHornet wrote:

BDKJMU wrote:How can this be? The NCAA has already declared that you cannot move up without a conference invite.

Exactly.

The NCAA enacted that rule because of how hard it is to survive as a FBS independent. Heck, even the service academies, for decades independents save for Air Force, have joined leagues. This is a trainwreck waiting to happen....

The NCAA can make any rule they like, but at the end of the day, the rule is only as strong as the NCAA's willingness to go to court to enforce the rule and the court's potential to uphold the rule. This was never a sound rule to begin with, it never seemed likely to be held up in court if anyone would ever challenge it. In this case, it seems like the NCAA has kicked the can down the road and granted a waiver to Liberty to allow them to move up. But even that concession just weakens the rule for the next folks who want to move up. It was a nice rule, but there's no teeth to enforce it.

I thought I heard that the exception was because no conference wanted a wacko evangelical school that won't let adults drink a beer in the parking lot at games?

I wonder how long until Liberty and BYU announce they are playing each other every year.

93henfan wrote:I thought I heard that the exception was because no conference wanted a wacko evangelical school that won't let adults drink a beer in the parking lot at games?

That isn't restricted to the Jesus schools

This may have changed since then, but when I went to Arkansas-The Citadel in 1992 you couldn't drink outside in the parking lot because Fayetteville and the county were dry. So all the Razorbacks fans tailgated in RVs.


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Liberty will only be independent until Idaho is officially in the Big Sky...Then they will join the Summit in place of Idaho.

SACCAT wrote:Liberty will only be independent until Idaho is officially in the Big Sky...Then they will join the Summit in place of Idaho.

Do you mean the Sunbelt?

Gil Dobie wrote:

SACCAT wrote:Liberty will only be independent until Idaho is officially in the Big Sky...Then they will join the Summit in place of Idaho.

Do you mean the Sunbelt?

Good question.

Actually, the Summit is a I-AAA conference comprised mainly of schools in the vicinity of MVFC schools. In addition to the three or four MVFC schools, there's an OVC school and several I-AAA schools. There doesn't seem to be a connection to the Sun Belt....

SACCAT wrote:Liberty will only be independent until Idaho is officially in the Big Sky...Then they will join the Summit in place of Idaho.

Nope. Sun Belt will stay at 10, if they wanted Liberty, they would have invited them instead of Coastal. Threatening a law suit was Liberty's (and now anyone else's) only way into FBS.

93henfan wrote:I thought I heard that the exception was because no conference wanted a wacko evangelical school that won't let adults drink a beer in the parking lot at games?

Hmmm...a judge says the commerce clause forces a Christian bakery to do business and make cakes for Musins and gays...even cakes that go against their religious beliefs. Wonder how long it will take that same judge to say other teams must play Liberty or include them in a conference?