History of the Flames
The Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. LU is a member of the ASUN Conference for most sports. Two sports that the ASUN does not sponsor are housed elsewhere. Women's swimming competes in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. The field hockey team was a Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference member before that league's demise after the 2014 season. After playing the 2015 season as an independent, the team joined the Big East Conference in 2016. In football, Liberty participates in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent. The mascot, Sparky, is frequently seen at events. Liberty University is the second youngest school in NCAA Division I, founded in 1971 (the youngest, Florida Gulf Coast University, was founded in 1991 with instruction starting in 1997). As a member of the Big South Conference, Liberty regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, the trophy for the university with the best sports program among the member institutions. Liberty won the Sasser Cup 10 times, the most in Big South Conference history.
On February 16, 2017, the NCAA approved Liberty's football program move to the FBS for the 2018 season. Liberty has competed as an FBS independent since that time. On May 17, 2018, it was announced that the Flames would move from the Big South to the ASUN starting in 2018.
Liberty has been announced as a future member of Conference USA, effective no later than July 2023.
College Sports Established
1971
Location
Lynchburg, Virginia
College Name
Liberty University
Collegiate History
2015 - Present / NCAA Division I
Conference History
2018 - Present / ASUN Conference
2015 - 2018 / Big East Conference
2015 / Independent
Nickname
Flames - The choice for the Flames nickname was made in 1972 by the student body. It was based upon the school's motto: Knowledge Aflame. For seven years LU was the only school with the Flames nickname. Liberty University began in 1971 as Lynchburg Baptist College with green and gold as the school's colors. In 1976, the name was changed to Liberty Baptist and the colors to red, white, and blue. LBC then became Liberty University in May of 1985. Through these changes, Flames remained as the athletics nickname. The Eagle was designated as the new Flame mascot in 1980. An Eagle was selected because of the patriotic symbolism and connection with the school name, Liberty. It was designed with the Flame nickname in mind.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.