Interesting read. Nice little w&m mention how they have big aspirations and don't plan to just settle on FCS like w&m and UR. I think it's a fools errand, but good luck to you Liberty.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca.../14299979/

They've really cashed in on the online class thing. Good for them, and they're willing to spend it on athletics. (Though in all fairness there's a lot to spend on everything when you have 95,000 students paying some amount of tuition that goes towards an on campus population of 12,000.) Finding a home will be the difficult part. Interesting comment that the Sun Belt thought liberty didn't raise the conference profile; I feel like Liberty has greater name recognition than many of the current Sun Belt powerhouses.


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I dunno, I think if the right opportunity arises we would make the jump. As of right now, no such opportunity is available

You would be able to see the glow of dumpster fires in H'burg from the moon if Liberty goes FBS. Nail in the coffin for JMU's hopes of joining a FBS conference.

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Liberty's growth has been a bubble funded and sustained by a massive influx of federal student loans used to pay for the cost of online education. See this quote: "We've grown so fast that we can't spend it fast enough," LU Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said."

Those statements do not comfort University presidents, who I would speculate are fairly conservative decision-makers and value long-term investments over short-term growth. The fact that Liberty is just now beginning to build an endowment would be even less comforting to a fiscal conservative.

Also, consider that lenient federal requirements on lending for online degrees and a lack of federal review over default rates, graduation rates, and post-graduation success by Liberty students has made it all possible. Whether the growth is sustainable or not will be a political question, and will largely be outside of Liberty's control. Federal loan requirements have already increased on for-profit colleges, and I know dozens of Liberty MBAs and JDs who have sterling transcripts but have received no interest from companies or firms outside the Lynchburg area.

I'm a Lynchburg native, and while Liberty has made strides toward respectability in their academic programs (Liberty graduates fill a large number of nursing positions in Central Virginia, for example), Liberty's uniquely hierarchical structure and mission (unlike even the more evangelical Baptist universities like Baylor, academic development is a secondary consideration to proselytization and conversion) have also hindered the University in pursuits like this. The conferences are wise to take a "wait and see" attitude.

Liberty has also tended to a "build it first, then improve it" model in many academic programs. For example, Liberty's law school remains mired in the fourth tier a decade after its founding, and Liberty law graduates have an abysmal bar passage rate. The beautiful facilities and generous financial incentives have yet to attract many top-tier students. The same is true for many Liberty undergraduate programs.

The article points specifically to Baylor as an example, but Baylor's academic programs are guided by a traditional governance model - Liberty doesn't even grant tenure and many professors lack the credentials to compete for positions at JMU, W+M, UVA, Richmond, etc. Liberty is actually much closer to Regent or Oral Roberts than to Baylor as an academic institution.

I give Liberty all the credit for having the financial wisdom to buy the policy on Falwell's life, and I also recognize their saavy in taking an existing correspondance curriculum and leveraging that infrastructure to capitalize on the growth of online education and the loose regulations governing federal student loans. However, my bet is that until Liberty adopts a more traditional governance model, enhances its academic profile and focuses more on growing their endowment than on building sparkling facilities that require massive long-term upkeep costs, most conference will say "thanks but no thanks."

Is right now really the best time to try and go 1-A what with the Power 5 conferences talking about taking their product and having nothing to do with the other schools?

(08-21-2014 09:23 AM)Rocco Wrote:  Is right now really the best time to try and go 1-A what with the Power 5 conferences talking about taking their product and having nothing to do with the other schools?

Doesn't sound to me as thou Liberty is planning to "do it NOW!" but rather, positioning themselves to go 1-A when the time is right [for them]. This is actually a pretty reasonable approach.

There is bound to be "fall-out" from the tourmoil of all the conference realignments over the past few years and Liberty could be well positioned to take advantage.

(08-21-2014 08:56 AM)Tribal Wrote:  You would be able to see the glow of dumpster fires in H'burg from the moon if Liberty goes FBS. Nail in the coffin for JMU's hopes of joining a FBS conference.

Begs the question, between Liberty & JMU, which is the most attractive team for a move up? I'm sure each team's fan base has a predictable opinion. JMU has tradition, but luke warm support in the administration. Liberty has no real tradition, but an over eager administration. I agree with Tribal, I don't think that region can support both programs as FBS.

We are 4-0 against Liberty and they don't want to be stuck?

Agree, fools errand. But that's for them to decide. I don't know what else they have to bank on other than Falwell and the on line piece (which I do think has been smart on their part, raised their profile some).

New G5 league: Liberty, JMU, Hawaii, Idaho, UMass, Eastern Kentucky, University of Phoenix and Southern New Hampshire. ESPN will support with weekday games with 1 AM kickoff times. But hey, they're playing "big boy" football.

Hey I love those Hawaii 1am games...great way to close out any Saturday!


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