Every team in the country wants to be a champion. The word is plastered throughout team facilities, weight rooms and hashtagged across social media. But few teams dare to even dream of a “perfect” season.
College football is one of the rare American sports where it’s even possible to achieve an undefeated record.
When you think about undefeated teams, your mind usually jumps to the blue bloods. This season, teams like Clemson, Penn State and Texas might come to mind first. But all of the top teams face two to three tests throughout the season. Texas opens at Ohio State. Clemson hosts LSU in its opener. And Penn State faces three teams that made the playoff last season.
So, who is the best bet to run through the regular season unscathed? Let's take a look at my college football picks and NCAAF predictions for the Liberty Flames.
Liberty Flames
To Go Undefeated (+700)
As of today, the Flames are favored in every game this fall. The reason for this is the fact that they face the easiest schedule in the FBS. How bad is it? They draw both FBS newcomers — Delaware and Missouri State — at home, an FCS opponent in the opener (Maine) and three more opponents with first-year head coaches.
The second-best team in Conference USA, Western Kentucky, doesn’t appear on their regular-season schedule. Liberty will face only one top-90 team all season long when it hosts James Madison on Sept. 20, per the KFord Ratings.
In total, LU could be a favorite of 10 points or more in nine games.
Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell has run the table before, posting a perfect regular season twice in the past five years. During COVID, his Coastal Carolina Chanticleers became a sensation, knocking off two ranked opponents en route to an 11-0 regular season.
Two years ago, Liberty took advantage of a Downy-soft slate and went 13-0 before receiving a bid to the Fiesta Bowl.
But that schedule was considerably harder than what it'll face this season. During that 2023 dream season, LU knocked off five bowl teams. There’s a chance it faces only two bowl teams in JMU and Old Dominion this fall.
But this play isn’t solely rooted in Liberty’s schedule. The Flames have the pieces on both sides of the ball to play really good football.
Solid at Quarterback
It starts with Ethan Vasko at quarterback. Vasko has the athleticism to be featured heavily in Chadwell’s running game. In 2023, when the LU offense was clicking on all cylinders, Kaidon Salter ran for over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns as LU’s QB1.
Vasko has that kind of upside.
In high school, he set a Virginia state record with 10 touchdowns in a single game. He led Oscar Smith High School to back-to-back state titles and has flashed as a dual-threat star at the college level.
He once ran for 170 yards in a game against Old Dominion and finished his time at Coastal with a four-touchdown performance against Georgia State.
Chadwell recruited him while at Coastal, so it’s clear he always viewed him as a perfect fit for his spread option attack.
The Flames also have great depth at receiver, and they brought in transfers from NC State and Georgia Tech to bolster their running back room.
If they can replace a pair of starters from a line that finished ninth in Line Yards in 2024, they’ll run roughshod over the competition. I have confidence that they can after a trio of three-star linemen portaled into the program.
Defense Needs to Step Up
Defensively, they need to up their Havoc numbers. When they dominated teams in 2023, they finished 10th in Havoc while intercepting 21 passes to lead the country in that area. Last season, those numbers dipped to 78th and 97th, respectively.
Their back seven has a ton of returning experience, with each linebacker and defensive back role manned by a junior or a senior.
If Aaron Hester (Florida State) or Derrell Farrar (Appalachian State) pop as edge rushers, the Flames could turn up the heat on teams once again.
Given the coach, quarterback and ideal schedule, I would play an undefeated season for Liberty down to 5-1 while looking to hedge in Week 4 against James Madison.
Pick: Liberty to Finish Regular Season Undefeated (+700)
