CUSA
Liberty will make the long awaited move to CUSA in 2024. The Flames will be leaving a solid baseball league in the ASUN but CUSA should be a significant step up. Let's take a look at the future conference foes and how they fared in 2023.
Dallas Baptist - The Patriots are a powerhouse and went 45-13 and sit at 14th in the RPI and were in the discussion to get a regional host. They also had the 28th rated SOS. DBU will likely be the pre-season CUSA favorite.
LA Tech - The Bulldogs mirrored Liberty as they finished 28-31 and 128th in the RPI. Their SOS was 78th. That's the worst season LA Tech has had in a long time but they lost a lot of pieces off a loaded team that hosted a regional in 2022. I would expect them to bounce back to their usual form.
Western Kentucky - The Hilltoppers went 33-26 and finished 138 in the RPI. They had a brutal 8 game losing streak in the middle of the season that sunk their at large chances. WKU won't be a favorite but they should be a solid middle of the pack foe that can pop from time to time.
FIU - The Golden Panthers went 21-34 and finished 198 in the RPI. They haven't been great recently so this was actually a somewhat solid season for them. They did manage to secure 1 win against DBU in a 3 game set and beat FGCU in a midweek matchup so there's enough talent there to beat you if you don't play well.
MTSU - The Blue Raiders went 27-29 and finished 157 in the RPI. Coach Toman resigned shortly before the season which I'm sure caused some uncertainty. They have a nice facility and some pedigree in the program so if they can get the coach right they should be a top half of the league team regularly.
SHSU - The Bearkats went 37-23 and finished 71st in the RPI. They will be a very solid program in the new CUSA. I think they have the most potential of the 3 FCS Football move-ups that are part of the new league both in all 3 major sports.
NMSU - The Aggies went 12 and 36 and finished 296th in the RPI. That's the team you have to sweep or your RPI gets crushed. Hopefully they can move up to mid to low 200's at least consistently.
Kennesaw State - The Owls are still a year away from joining but they took a step back similar to Liberty from last year's team that made a run in the Regionals. They finished 25-29 and 162 in the RPI with the 121st ranked SOS. I still like adding KSU. Liberty has started to develop a semblance of a potential rivalry with the Owls between MBB & Baseball. They just need to continue to invest in facilities. It's also a nice road trip for Flames Fans in an area with a lot of alumni. Their longtime HC retired at the end of the season so there could be some change there.
Jacksonville State - The Gamecocks finished 27-30 and 180 in the RPI with the 169th ranked SOS. JSU should be a nice middle of the pack team can jump up and challenge the top seeds every 3 to 4 years when they've developed a veteran laden team.
Current ASUN - 18th in league RPI - Average team RPI of 185. The ASUN drops to 197 when Liberty, KSU & JSU are removed from the analysis.
Current CUSA - 8th in league RPI
New CUSA - Average RPI of 143. NMSU drags it down substantially and that's with Liberty and La Tech both having down seasons.
It's inarguable that CUSA is going to be a step in competition and should have a shot to be a 2 to 3 bid league in many years with a potential to have a regular regional host as well. Liberty finished at 96 in the RPI even in a down year which would have been 3rd behind DBU & SHSU in the new CUSA. It's also huge that the league at this point really only has 1 dog in NMSU that can really torpedo the RPI even when you sweep them. Hopefully then can get up to the low 200's which would make a huge difference. The league will definitely be a lot more travel but should also open up some new recruiting ground from the Flames as well.
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