NCAA Basketball: Preseason top 25 mid-major power rankings for 2022-23 season

17. Liberty Flames

2021-22 record: 22-11 (12-4 in Atlantic Sun)

If there was a power ranking of the best mid-major players in the country, Darius McGhee may be No. 1. He’s now back-to-back ASUN Player of the Year after averaging a whopping 24.6 ppg and 3.6 apg. McGhee was second in all of NCAA Basketball in scoring and shot 39% from three-point range on 11 attempts a game.

The elite scorer had three games of at least 40 points last season, including 41 versus Stanford, 47 against Kennesaw State, and a career-high 48 on the road at Florida Gulf Coast. McGhee obviously will be a star this year but Liberty also returns almost its entire rotation from last season, minus forward Keegan McDowell.

There’s plenty of frontcourt depth with the Flames, as both Shiloh Robinson and Kyle Rode nearly averaged double figures, while Blake Preston was effective off the bench. And while McGhee is the key guy on the perimeter, look for sophomores Joseph Venzant and Brody Peebles to have good second years and take some pressure off the star guard.

Liberty is one of the better defensive units in the country and when McGhee is hot, is capable of beating almost any mid-major team in NCAA Basketball. They’re once again the favorite in the ASUN and it wouldn’t be a shock if they go unbeaten as well.