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

Liberty's chances of making the College Football Playoff have all but disappeared.

The previously undefeated Flames lost 27-24 at Kennesaw State on Wednesday night. Kennesaw State went 0-6 in its first football season at the FBS level, and the win is the Owls' first in 11 games against opponents from college football's top tier.

Oh, and Liberty was the favorite by 26.5 points before kickoff. To put that in perspective, Northern Illinois' stunning upset in Week 2 against Notre Dame came when 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 points with under five minutes remaining.

However, there was something crazy at the end. LIberty got the ball back within six seconds and with no timeouts remaining. Kaidon Salter's pass flew out of bounds with seemingly no time left and Kennesaw State fans stormed the field.

But it took another second as the ball hit a player on the Liberty sideline. The game was reviewed when Kennesaw State students stormed the field, and it had to be cleared before Liberty could make another futile attempt at a miracle victory.

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

This placement earned Liberty a trip to the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon. And Liberty was completely overwhelmed as Oregon won 45-6.

After that bust, it was easy to see that Liberty needed another undefeated season in 2024 to potentially advance to the new 12-team College Football Playoff. The top five conference champions receive automatic postseason bids, and with four power conferences remaining after the Pac-12's dissolution, the top team from American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt will advance to the playoffs come.

But Conference USA is the weakest conference in the country, and Liberty's non-conference schedule included Campbell, East Carolina, UMass and Appalachian State before its 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 looked strong and each suffered a loss. The Army and Navy are both undefeated in American competition. And Louisiana is 6-1 in the Sun Belt. All of these teams have played much tougher schedules than Liberty.

But that's probably all a moot point now. Even if the Flames win the rest of the game, they will need a lot of help to make the playoffs.