Coastal Carolina could face BYU due to Liberty COVID issues
Three days before Liberty’s scheduled game against Coastal Carolina, neither team knows if they’ll be playing this weekend — or who they’ll be playing.
According to Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports, Liberty is dealing with an “uptick” in COVID-19 cases that has left its game against Coastal Carolina in doubt. The situation is complex for both teams, as Coastal Carolina will host College GameDay on Saturday in a rare bit of national exposure for the Sun Belt school. Liberty also wants to play against a Top 25 opponent.
Multiple reports indicated that Coastal Carolina is instead looking into playing BYU if Liberty cannot play the game. The Cougars have an open weekend and would welcome the opportunity to bolster their playoff resume. In fact, according to Feldman, there are tentative preparations to allow BYU to completely fill Liberty’s spot, including hotel and meal accommodations.
Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated laid out three potential scenarios. One is Liberty playing as scheduled, while another involves BYU taking Liberty’s place, which the Cougars have already done some background prep for. In addition, Coastal Carolina could even move next week’s scheduled game against Troy up a week.
BYU would probably welcome Liberty not being able to play. Despite being 9-0, they have not been looked at favorably by the selection committee. The No. 18 Chanticleers would end up being a decent resume game if the Cougars could play and win it.
