(08-03-2023 08:56 AM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  

(08-03-2023 08:16 AM)whupemall Wrote:  But conservatives also represent a very sizeable chunk of CUSA alumni and fans. It's probably close to a 50/50 split, once you exclude centrist independents and the apolitical.

Conservatives -- and especially Christian conservatives -- don't view Liberty with impulsive hate. They may even see them as kindred spirits. In many cases, they'll know Liberty grads personally (from church, etc.).

This creates its own form of "rivalry" -- an opponent you don't necessarily "hate" but look forward to playing (and beating) for social reasons.

It's always fun to rub it in to your pastor. I'm just saying...

So basically, yes. Liberty will be everyone's rival.

It probably won't be a two-way rivalry in the mold of UTEP-NMSU, WKU-MTSU, or the JSU-KSU baby rivalry, but it will be a big game nonetheless, especially for the teams east of the Mississippi. And big conference games are just as important as rivalries when it comes to putting butts in the seats.

I'm curious if this is a geographic thing.

It's absolutely a geographic thing. (I probably should've added the bit about teams east of the Mississippi a little higher up.)

My point isn't that protestant Christians at Jax State (for example) are going to consider Liberty their big rival and get "extra fired up because we're playing the Flames this week." I doubt seriously that'll happen.

It's NOT going to be a true rivalry game at all.

But the game is going to be a little bigger for many of us because we WILL know some Liberty alumni. As mentioned earlier, online alumni are seldom diehard fans of their alma mater, especially if they only got a grad degree online. But those who at least follow sports will notice when the Flames are playing the favorite team of one of their friends/co-workers, and a little good-natured trash talk will usually result.

(I saw this firsthand the couple times JSU and Liberty played in football, as well as last season when we met as conference mates in hoops.)

That's really all it takes for a game to elevate to big game status for individual fans -- just KNOWING someone from that school. A co-worker, friend, whatever.

It doesn't have to be 10K-20K fans -- just enough to get to critical mass. A few hundred, even. It bleeds over to other fans through osmosis.

The point is, a large number of fans (regardless of politics) will have their own reasons for wanting to beat Liberty. NMSU, UTEP, and FIU fans may not notice at all. Sam and La Tech? I dunno. Maybe a little.

But WKU, MTSU, JSU, and KSU will at least have the Liberty game circled in a faint shade of red. Not a RIVALRY but a BIG GAME. And the better the Flames are, the bigger that game will be in coming years.

The only thing that'll wreck this is if the Flames stumble out of the gate and get monkey-stomped by everyone else in CUSA. That'd put an end to their "big game" status quicker than anything.

(08-03-2023 09:33 AM)SlyFox Wrote:  Once upon a time decades ago, Liberty had a higher profile in Texas in the televangelism era. When I was in school in the '80s, a signficant portion of the student body was from the Lone Star State. As a result, there are more of us older alumni in Texas than younger ones. Over the past few decades, the residential enrollment skewed much more toward the East Coast. That's why the profileis lower these days here in Texas.

I don't consider LU Online students as signficant players in the Liberty fanbase. There is the potential for growth on the front as we experience more success and those who have never been to Lynchburg start buying into the experience. But no one in the Liberty camp stands on the online students as fans.

What many Texans don't realize is that our residential enrollment is larger than Baylor and most other privates in Texas. Many of them have begun moving to Texas more frequently post-graduation for economic opportinuties which is why you might start engaging more of our fans at games.

Since pastors were brought up, they tend to be a touchstone for most Texans in connectionto Liberty. We were primarily a Bible college for most of our first few decades after being formed in '71. Today we have a much more diverse alumni grpup that tends to skew much younger. And every non-tshirt school in America struggles with keeping younger alumni enagaged with their programs. we are no different. But because of the nature of online learning, pastors don't have to move away to seminary and the costs associated with such a venture to develop as leaders. So if you go to Protestant/Non-Denominational church in Texas it is highly likely you are engaging Liberty grads on Sundays. I can tll you that felt really nice for me when we opened up our FBS transition with that victory at Baylor following Harvey a few years ago.

I think you hit a lot of this issue on the head, but the other big factor with the Texas crowd is that no schools exist outside of the state of Texas to most Texas born-and-breds these days. Which, on the one hand is cool, but on the other hand, is pretty obnoxious.

Nothing turned me off more to Texas than living there for long enough. The statements about how I, a seventh generation born-&-raised Florida kid, had probably never experienced heat like they had. The self-congratulatory nature of being blessed to be a Texan. The road rage there that led two different people to chase me down & yell some of the most vile things I have ever heard because I wasn't driving the hellish speed they wanted while in neighborhoods. I used to love the idea of living there, but now, I ain't going back unless the good Lord drags me back kicking & screaming.

I don’t mind Liberty or their beliefs, It’s actually refreshing with all the foolishness that is the world today.

But I will say Presidents of universities making these decisions of who gets into a conference have strong opinions about Liberty, Phoenix, Grand Canyon. Yes they equate Liberty to the for-profit online schools. Not to mention the religious aspect. Unfortunately the disdain for Liberty is real among these Presidents, warranted or not.

Any comparison to other Private religious FBS schools is a little ridiculous
Liberty (founded in the 1970’s) is not Baylor or BYU, schools that have been around since 1845. Yes Baylor was the first university established in Texas. Not to mention the majority online aspect of Liberty.

As we are seeing on full display right now out west, presidents are not viewing conference membership the same way they have historically. These are financial athletic alliances and not Ivy-esque auras we are talking about in 2023. If the presidents see value for their institutions in bringing on something different, they will. If they don't, they won't. But this is not the setting we saw even 5-10 years ago.

(08-03-2023 02:00 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  As we are seeing on full display right now out west, presidents are not viewing conference membership the same way they have historically. These are financial athletic alliances and not Ivy-esque auras we are talking about in 2023. If the presidents see value for their institutions in bringing on something different, they will. If they don't, they won't. But this is not the setting we saw even 5-10 years ago.

You’re absolutely right. In the past, presidents looking down their nose at Liberty, kept us out of the Sunbelt and the first attempt at CUSA. In the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a changing’.

(08-03-2023 02:00 PM)SlyFox Wrote:  As we are seeing on full display right now out west, presidents are not viewing conference membership the same way they have historically. These are financial athletic alliances and not Ivy-esque auras we are talking about in 2023. If the presidents see value for their institutions in bringing on something different, they will. If they don't, they won't. But this is not the setting we saw even 5-10 years ago.

Could a depleted AAC consider adding Liberty? most certainly, just like a gutted CUSA added Liberty.

But as far P5 or P4 aspirations, No I don’t think Liberty will even be remotely considered. Liberty, Us, SHSU, NMSU should be happy CUSA came calling out of desperation IMO.

(08-03-2023 12:34 PM)Keswick_Crusaders_Forever51 Wrote:  

(08-03-2023 09:33 AM)SlyFox Wrote:  Once upon a time decades ago, Liberty had a higher profile in Texas in the televangelism era. When I was in school in the '80s, a signficant portion of the student body was from the Lone Star State. As a result, there are more of us older alumni in Texas than younger ones. Over the past few decades, the residential enrollment skewed much more toward the East Coast. That's why the profileis lower these days here in Texas.

I don't consider LU Online students as signficant players in the Liberty fanbase. There is the potential for growth on the front as we experience more success and those who have never been to Lynchburg start buying into the experience. But no one in the Liberty camp stands on the online students as fans.

What many Texans don't realize is that our residential enrollment is larger than Baylor and most other privates in Texas. Many of them have begun moving to Texas more frequently post-graduation for economic opportinuties which is why you might start engaging more of our fans at games.

Since pastors were brought up, they tend to be a touchstone for most Texans in connectionto Liberty. We were primarily a Bible college for most of our first few decades after being formed in '71. Today we have a much more diverse alumni grpup that tends to skew much younger. And every non-tshirt school in America struggles with keeping younger alumni enagaged with their programs. we are no different. But because of the nature of online learning, pastors don't have to move away to seminary and the costs associated with such a venture to develop as leaders. So if you go to Protestant/Non-Denominational church in Texas it is highly likely you are engaging Liberty grads on Sundays. I can tll you that felt really nice for me when we opened up our FBS transition with that victory at Baylor following Harvey a few years ago.

I think you hit a lot of this issue on the head, but the other big factor with the Texas crowd is that no schools exist outside of the state of Texas to most Texas born-and-breds these days. Which, on the one hand is cool, but on the other hand, is pretty obnoxious.

Nothing turned me off more to Texas than living there for long enough. The statements about how I, a seventh generation born-&-raised Florida kid, had probably never experienced heat like they had. The self-congratulatory nature of being blessed to be a Texan. The road rage there that led two different people to chase me down & yell some of the most vile things I have ever heard because I wasn't driving the hellish speed they wanted while in neighborhoods. I used to love the idea of living there, but now, I ain't going back unless the good Lord drags me back kicking & screaming.

Thats more to do with geography than arrogance. If I drive 5 hours east im still in Texas, try that in some states and you've gone 2 or 3 states over. It's not our fault we don't often run into alumni from OOS G5 schools.

(07-30-2023 09:00 PM)Ewglenn Wrote:  Are you happy your school is in CUSA right now?

Hell no. This is ass.

I just don't agree with that Utep fan who wants to go to the Wac. If Utep ever left Fbs I would use my Utep gear to wash the car. Even as far as Utep not being gang busters it's so much better in my opinion that being fcs. No thanks, in the present I have enough rags to wash my car, I don't want to use my Utep shirts for that any time soon.

(08-05-2023 08:21 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I just don't agree with that Utep fan who wants to go to the Wac. If Utep ever left Fbs I would use my Utep gear to wash the car. Even as far as Utep not being gang busters it's so much better in my opinion that being fcs. No thanks, in the present I have enough rags to wash my car, I don't want to use my Utep shirts for that any time soon.

There’s one or two MTSU fans that have said similar stuff about just funding MBB and dropping football. I would no longer support MTSU if they did that.

I'm a Liberty Fan. I am happy the Flames are in CUSA. I really hope these 9 schools (10 next year) can hold together. It's going to be great basketball and I think football has much more potential than people realize. My plan is to get YouTubeTV so I can get CBSSN and ESPNU and watch a lot of CUSA football. I'm hoping the CUSA teams win a lot of their non conference games. That:s what will help the conference more than anything. I think the current CUSA has a lot of potential.

(08-05-2023 09:13 PM)justjim Wrote:  I'm a Liberty Fan. I am happy the Flames are in CUSA. I really hope these 9 schools (10 next year) can hold together. It's going to be great basketball and I think football has much more potential than people realize. My plan is to get YouTubeTV so I can get CBSSN and ESPNU and watch a lot of CUSA football. I'm hoping the CUSA teams win a lot of their non conference games. That:s what will help the conference more than anything. I think the current CUSA has a lot of potential.

I got Hulu live because it also comes with an ESPN+ subscription. It’s awesome and will make watching CUSA games very simple.

(08-06-2023 12:59 AM)Ewglenn Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 09:13 PM)justjim Wrote:  I'm a Liberty Fan. I am happy the Flames are in CUSA. I really hope these 9 schools (10 next year) can hold together. It's going to be great basketball and I think football has much more potential than people realize. My plan is to get YouTubeTV so I can get CBSSN and ESPNU and watch a lot of CUSA football. I'm hoping the CUSA teams win a lot of their non conference games. That:s what will help the conference more than anything. I think the current CUSA has a lot of potential.

I got Hulu live because it also comes with an ESPN+ subscription. It’s awesome and will make watching CUSA games very simple.

Yes. Hulu is the best. YoutubeTV sucks. I tried it for a month and switched to Hulu.

(08-05-2023 08:21 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I just don't agree with that Utep fan who wants to go to the Wac. If Utep ever left Fbs I would use my Utep gear to wash the car. Even as far as Utep not being gang busters it's so much better in my opinion that being fcs. No thanks, in the present I have enough rags to wash my car, I don't want to use my Utep shirts for that any time soon.

I was a little dramatic but it has just become so frustrating
Utep is in the place it's in due to complacency and acceptance of mediocrity and I'm sick of it. I hope utep starts competing for championships in CUSA because if utep can't win in this version of CUSA, they belong in FCS in the WAC. We will be sharing CUSA with them 10-15 years down the road if utep doesn't get it together. Calling yourself FBS just because but not actually trying to get better and maybe find your way into a better league isn't good for me.

(08-06-2023 11:21 AM)PredatorUTEP Wrote:  

(08-05-2023 08:21 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I just don't agree with that Utep fan who wants to go to the Wac. If Utep ever left Fbs I would use my Utep gear to wash the car. Even as far as Utep not being gang busters it's so much better in my opinion that being fcs. No thanks, in the present I have enough rags to wash my car, I don't want to use my Utep shirts for that any time soon.

I was a little dramatic but it has just become so frustrating
Utep is in the place it's in due to complacency and acceptance of mediocrity and I'm sick of it. I hope utep starts competing for championships in CUSA because if utep can't win in this version of CUSA, they belong in FCS in the WAC. We will be sharing CUSA with them 10-15 years down the road if utep doesn't get it together. Calling yourself FBS just because but not actually trying to get better and maybe find your way into a better league isn't good for me.

Thanks for thinking so highly of the rest of us in CUSA. LOL

I’m no fan of the Falwell family but I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about Liberty. If they come in and dominate the league every year I may start hating them because they are the Goliath but I won’t hate them on a personal level. Our big rival is going to be CUSA.

FWIW, I’m a politically moderate Methodist and don’t really know any Liberty grads.

(08-06-2023 05:09 PM)AssKickingChicken Wrote:  I’m no fan of the Falwell family but I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about Liberty. If they come in and dominate the league every year I may start hating them because they are the Goliath but I won’t hate them on a personal level. Our big rival is going to be CUSA.

FWIW, I’m a politically moderate Methodist and don’t really know any Liberty grads.

What did the Falwell family do? And why LU receive so much hate?

Let's not go dpwn that path, please. It is not tough to Google.

The university is in the process of making some changes. But it will take awhile to distance from the stigma of the past in many eyes.

(08-06-2023 06:02 PM)jones682 Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 05:09 PM)AssKickingChicken Wrote:  I’m no fan of the Falwell family but I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about Liberty. If they come in and dominate the league every year I may start hating them because they are the Goliath but I won’t hate them on a personal level. Our big rival is going to be CUSA.

FWIW, I’m a politically moderate Methodist and don’t really know any Liberty grads.

What did the Falwell family do? And why LU receive so much hate?

Not the place to discuss my opinion of them.

(08-06-2023 06:22 PM)AssKickingChicken Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 06:02 PM)jones682 Wrote:  

(08-06-2023 05:09 PM)AssKickingChicken Wrote:  I’m no fan of the Falwell family but I don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other about Liberty. If they come in and dominate the league every year I may start hating them because they are the Goliath but I won’t hate them on a personal level. Our big rival is going to be CUSA.

FWIW, I’m a politically moderate Methodist and don’t really know any Liberty grads.

What did the Falwell family do? And why LU receive so much hate?

Not the place to discuss my opinion of them.

Yeah, I should research more into them.