Liberty Challenge Popular Way For Teams, Players To Wrap Up Fall

Liberty Challenge Popular Way For Teams, Players To Wrap Up Fall

Liberty Conference teams laud the concept behind the league's fall Liberty Challenge. This year's event takes place Nov. 18 at Fairfield University.

Nov 2, 2017 by Alex Goff
Liberty Challenge Popular Way For Teams, Players To Wrap Up Fall

The debate over what is the ideal schedule for a college team won't die anytime soon. Really, in the end, colleges will find what works best for them, individually.

Some teams that play in the winter/spring decide that fall 7s won't work for them, so it makes sense that others will want to play 15s in the fall, when the weather and timing is right.

The teams in the Liberty Conference know what they want, and in two weeks they'll get it. Instead of a crammed playoff schedule, or, conversely, stopping play right when it's getting good, the teams will play a series of postseason games at Fairfield University in Fairfield, CT, on Nov. 18.

The matchups are still to be decided, but it looks as though this weekend's game between Northeastern and UConn might decide part of the schedule.

"The [Liberty Challenge games] are a chance to get out of our division," UConn coach Bob Merola said. "We'll get a chance to see a different style of play and that's exciting."

Last year, Delaware coach Struan Murray took a winless Blue Hens team into the Liberty Challenge and came away with a victory that helped rejuvenate his squad. 

"We've loved it since day one," he said. "This will be our third one in a row. For us it's an opportunity to finish on a positive. There's a little bit of a spotlight on it and our players buy into it big time."


Do we know the matchups? Not yet but have a look at the standings below, and you'll probably be able to guess a few of them. 

Iona will play at Saint Mary's on that day, but many of the rest of the teams are involved. It's highly likely you will see teams with similar records or division finishes playing each other.

Watch all of the Liberty Challenge games LIVE on FloRugby


Liberty - EmpireWLTPFPAPDBTBLPTS
Cortland500161561055025
Binghamton410238581804020
Syracuse320153106473015
Albany23085161-762010
Colgate14090177-87004
Brockport05072211-139000










Liberty - I-95WLTPFPAPDBTBLPTS
Iona400268482204020
Fordham31095110-151013
Delaware220107152-453011
Stony Brook13078141-63116
Rutgers04068159-91000










Liberty - New EnglandWLTPFPAPDBTBLPTS
Northeastern400157561014020
UConn40017687894020
Tufts220101136-353011
UMass13089114-25217
Rhode Island140120148-28217
Fairfield14091193-102217