Liberty's College Football Playoff hopes disappear with loss to previously winless Kennesaw State

Liberty’s chances of making the College Football Playoff are all but gone.

The previously-undefeated Flames were upset 27-24 at Kennesaw State on Wednesday night. Kennesaw State entered the game at 0-6 in its first season of football at the FBS level and the win is the Owls’ first in 11 games against opponents from the top tier of college football.

Oh, Liberty was a 26.5-point favorite before kickoff. To put that into perspective, Northern Illinois’ stunning Week 2 upset over Notre Dame came as the Huskies were 28.5-point underdogs.

Liberty never led again after Kennesaw State tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter. The Owls took the lead for good in the third quarter on a six-yard TD run by Qua Ashley, and Austin Welch’s second field goal of the fourth quarter extended the Owls’ lead to two scores with less than five minutes to go.

There was a bit of wackiness at the end, however. LIberty got the ball back with six seconds and no timeouts remaining. Kaidon Salter's pass flew out of bounds with seemingly no time on the clock and Kennesaw State fans stormed the field.

But there was a second left when the ball hit a player on the Liberty sideline. The play was reviewed as Kennesaw State students watched players dance on the field and the field had to be cleared before Liberty could try one more futile attempt at a miracle win.

Liberty was the top non-power conference team in last season’s College Football Playoff standings and earned a spot in the Fiesta Bowl. The Flames went 13-0 and won Conference USA playing one of the easiest schedules in the country before finishing a spot ahead of 11-2 SMU in the final set of rankings.

That ranking earned Liberty a trip to the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon. And Liberty was totally overmatched as Oregon won 45-6.

After that blowout, it was easy to see how Liberty needed yet another undefeated season in 2024 to make the new 12-team College Football Playoff. The top five conference champions receive automatic bids to the postseason, and with four power conferences remaining after the dissolution of the Pac-12, the top team from either the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt will make the playoff.

But Conference USA is the weakest conference in the country, and Liberty ’s non-conference schedule included Campbell, East Carolina, Appalachian State and UMass before the game against the Mountaineers was canceled due to Hurricane Helene.

Even before tonight, an undefeated season might not have been enough. Teams like Boise State and UNLV in the Mountain West have looked strong and each have one loss. Army and Navy are both undefeated in the American. And Louisiana is sitting at 6-1 in the Sun Belt. All of those teams have played much tougher schedules than Liberty.

That's all probably a moot point now, however. Even if the Flames win out the rest of the way, they're going to need a ton of help to sniff the playoff.