A map of the states that have member universities in the American Athletic Conference. Photo from Wikimedia CommonsAlex Jones- Staff Writeralex96@uab.edu
The year 2014 was supposed to be one of promise for the Blazers.
A coach named Bill Clark came to Birmingham with an 11-4 record during his career at Jacksonville State University and led the Blazers to a 6-6 record, making the team bowl eligible for the first time since 2004. Then the football, bowling and rifle programs were shut down that December, and questions began to arise about what would happen to the athletics department. Would UAB have to leave Conference-USA? How would this affect student tuition and enrollment? Men’s basketball under then head coach Jerod Haase had just finished 2014 with a record of 4-9, and the aura around campus was somber.
While 2014 was a year of disappointment, 2015 was a year of redemption. UAB finished the season with a 20-16 record that included a Conference-USA Championship and an upset win over the Iowa State Cyclones in the NCAA Tournament. On June 1, President Ray Watts announced the reinstatement of football, bowling and rifle. It would eventually be announced later that the Blazers would return to the gridiron in 2017. The aura of sadness turned to an aura of hope.
2016 has been building off of a hopeful 2015. Although the basketball team did not make it to the NCAA tournament, the team finished the season with a resounding 26-7 record and also had the longest winning streak in the NCAA in January of this year. While the basketball team prospered, the football team still prepared for the return by nabbing high quality recruits such as Brandon Hill, Clifton Garrett and DJ Law. UAB also broke ground on a new football operations building that is slated to be finished in 2017, and photos of a possible football stadium in downtown Birmingham, with UAB likely using the site for future home games.
So, could this be the beginning of the move for UAB to a new conference?
I believe so. UAB has been in Conference-USA since 1995, which along with Southern Mississippi, makes them the oldest members of the conference. In that time, they have seen rivals such as Tulane, Memphis, East Carolina and South Florida leave for other conferences. The conference does not receive much respect anymore, as they used to send multiple teams to the NCAA tournament in basketball. Now, the winner of the conference is usually the only one accepted into the tournament as the automatic bid with a low seed. Conference-USA has had a few teams ranked in the top 25 in football in recent years (Marshall and Western Kentucky), however, they have not had as much prestige as other conferences. So which conference would UAB join if it were to leave Conference-USA?
Why, the American Athletic Conference, of course.
The AAC makes the most sense for not only UAB to join, but for Southern Mississippi to join as well, because they would each get to renew rivalries with Memphis, Tulane and UCF. The American Athletic Conference is the premier “group of five” team, with teams regularly ranked in the top 25 in football, and a team that recently won a national championship in basketball (Connecticut). There may be an opening with Houston and Cincinnati rumored to move to the Big 12 soon. Moving to the AAC gives UAB a chance to play more heralded competition, which could possibly open the door to get more commitments from recruits, and from there could lead to top 25 rankings in both basketball and football.
Let’s make it happen, UAB.
