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(STATS) -- Liberty has made no effort to hide its desire to join an FBS conference and play with the big boys, a stance that was reignited this week when school president Jerry Falwell Jr. said the Flames might make the leap in a matter of months.Beating one of the premier teams in the FCS should make them a bit more attractive to potential suitors.Theres a golden opportunity to land a signature win Saturday against No. 3 Jacksonville State, the Ohio Valley Conference power that made it to the national championship game last season and the highest-ranked team that will have ever visited Lynchburgs Williams Stadium.Ive heard so much about the environment at Liberty, Gamecocks coach John Grass said. I think its one of the best in FCS football.Falwell Jr. is hoping the 27-year-old stadium will soon be one of the better -- albeit tinier, at 19,200 -- environments in the FBS. He announced in 2012 that the Flames (1-2) were ready to jump to the FBS, and though some brief flirtation with the Sun Belt never materialized, there could soon be a new opportunity. The Big 12 is currently considering expansion candidates -- a vote is possible as early as an Oct. 17 board meeting -- and the domino effect could leave either the American Athletic Conference or Conference USA looking for a new member or two.Grass team is coming off a 27-26 win over Coastal Carolina, another former Big South member thats making the move to the FBS. Following this transition season, the Chanticleers are off to the Sun Belt.We just talked about Coastal Carolinas budget and moving up; well, Liberty has the same kind of budget and wanting to move up, they are just waiting on a conference to take them, Grass said. They have the biggest budget in FCS football and maybe some of the lower level Power 5 schools, so they have a lot going on with their university and in the right direction.All that speculation has little meaning to Turner Gills current team, which is 0-for-2 against FBS schools in September after recording FBS wins in each of the past two seasons. The Flames are simply concentrating on finding a way back to the FCS playoffs, which they missed out on last season after making their inaugural trip in 2014.Theres an automatic path in by winning the Big South, but a victory over Jacksonville State could give them a reasonable chance of an at-large berth should they stumble. After Saturday, the schedule isnt exactly challenging until two games in six days in mid-November against Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina.Its been great focus all week, Gill said. Im not saying its been a whole lot of rah-rah stuff, but paying attention to detail and a lot of great communication from teammate to teammate. When I see that, that tells me theyre focused and ready to go.As of Friday morning, Gill was still silent in naming a starting quarterback. Neither of his options have played well thus far. Junior Stephon Masha has thrown six interceptions in just 60 pass attempts, giving him an interception percentage thats the second highest in all of Division I. And though hes completed only 51.7 percent of his throws, thats 1.7 percent better than freshman Stephen Calvert, who saw his most extensive action yet in last Saturdays 29-14 loss to SMU.The Flames will need whichever signal caller is taking snaps to succeed through the air, because theyll likely find space hard to come by on the ground. LSU had success rushing against Jacksonville State, but Coastal Carolina gained just 42 yards on 35 carries.Theres no uncertainty under center for the Gamecocks (2-1). Eli Jenkins paved the way to the title game last season and despite a dip in accuracy through three games, hes still the driving force in an offense thats cracked 500 total yards against both of its non-FBS opponents.(Jenkins), in my mind, is no question one of the top players in the country, Gill said.There are four wins over FCS top-10 foes on Gills resume since arriving at Liberty in 2012 -- the Flames knocked off both Montana and Coastal in Lynchburg last season -- but theres a reason Jacksonville State heads north as a 9 1/2-point favorite in this one. The Gamecocks have lost only three regular-season games since Grass took over in 2014 -- to Michigan State, Auburn and LSU. Cheap Saints Jerseys . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. 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The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. It was another offseason full of change for the perennially contending Chicago Blackhawks, an organization for which salary-cap gymnastics have become a summer rite. The Blackhawks continue to set the bar high in regard to how to stay in the mix, despite dealing with moving parts year in and year out.GM Stan Bowman is among the very best at his job, finding ways to plug holes and keep his team among the elite. In the spring of 2015, he plucked?Artemi Panarin?out of the KHL as a free agent, an asset-free addition, and watched as the Russian winger won the Calder Trophy last season as NHL rookie of the year. It is that kind of move that has kept Chicago ahead of the curve.Still, the salary cap trades this past offseason of Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen are going to test that formula this year. Chicago enters the season with more question marks up front than weve seen, perhaps, in the entire Hawks run of head coach Joel Quenneville.Did last springs first-round playoff exit after a monster series with the?St. Louis Blues?signal a new, more-mortal era for the Blackhawks?Or was it just time to reset and come back stronger around the talented core led by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford?-- a quintet Id put up against any group in the NHL?On a different note, I would argue that the Hawks are deeper on defense now than theyve been in a long time.This season will indeed tell the tale. Then again, as Bowman has proven time and time again, the team that begins the season wont necessarily be the same club as the one that will enter the playoffs. Hes as aggressive as any GM in the NHL when it comes to making changes before the trade deadline.Best new facesThe Blackhawks have been too thin on the blue line the past two seasons. They won a Cup in 2015 while largely playing just four defensemen and basically relied on their three top guys last year. Bowman addressed that aggressively by bringing in veteran unrestricted free agent?Brian Campbell on a bargain-basement deal and beating other NHL teams for KHL free-agent Michal Kempny, who played for the Czech Republic in the World Cup of Hockey and shows all the elements of a guy who should be a steady NHL defender.The Hawks are also very high on 20-year-old Swedish defender Gustav Forsling. With a top four of Keith, Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Campbell, a decent third pairing of Kempny and/or Forsling with Trevor van Riemsdyk, and depth at No. 8 in Michal Rozsival, Chicago is in much better shape than it was the previous season. Forsling cant be sent to the AHL -- he would have to be offered back to his Swedish team if the Hawks dont keep him on their NHL roster -- so I figure that means he will at least begin the season with Chicago.Theres other orgaanizational depth too, in Viktor Svedberg, Ville Pokka and Erik Gustafsson.dddddddddddd All three will begin the season in the AHL, but with 11 capable defensemen, Chicago seems better prepared to handle injuries and the long season on the back end.Biggest unknownsThe departure up front of Shaw and Teravainen, both salary-cap victims, thins out a top-nine group that had question marks last season. Dont forget that trade-deadline add-ons Andrew Ladd and Dale Weise?have also moved on, as expected.It has been a long time since Quenneville opened the season with so many question marks up front. The Hawks were largely a one-line team last season, albeit a heck of one, as the unit of Artem Anisimov between Kane and Panarin lit up the NHL. Is Quenneville concerned enough about finding Toews some help to follow through on his training camp declaration that he might break up the Kane-Panarin connection? Will rookies Vincent Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz and Tyler Motte make an impact this season? Richard Panik, a waiver pickup last season, had a look with Toews in the playoffs. Can he deliver a sustained role?Another unknown: how Keith will fare following offseason surgery on his right knee, which forced him to sit out the World Cup of Hockey. He had surgery to repair the knee last year, but the news that it needed rehabbing had to cause at least minor concern. The 33-year-old is one of the leagues top defensemen, and the Hawks need a healthy season from him to contend again.Sure thingsCrawford is coming off arguably his best NHL season and an appearance in the World Cup in which he backed up Carey Price and got to start a game. Hes rock-solid in net and one of the top five goalies in the world, in my estimation.The 1-2 punch of Kane and Toews up front is why the Hawks always have a chance. Kane is coming off a Hart Trophy season in which he led the NHL in scoring, and he shows no sign of slowing down. Hes an absolute artist on the ice. During the World Cup, Toews showed yet again the kind of two-way beast and clutch player he is.Finally,?Marcus Kruger?is a perfect fit as the No. 3 center. That 1-2-3 punch serves as an anchor around all the other uncertainty up front.PredictionThe Blackhawks are playoff-bound, for sure, but what remains a mystery at this point is whether they can regain their Cup-contender status among the top-five teams in the NHL. They have the kind of questions up front that we havent seen in a long time. Mind you, the blue line is better, and this team is rock solid in goal. Winning the division is never a priority for the Blackhawks. Another Cup run? That wouldnt surprise me.?Third in the Central. ' ' '