UAB to the MVC?

[rlh04d]

Hello. As you can tell by my handle name I am a UAB fan. Congratz to Wichita and pulling for Northern Iowa to beat Louisville.

Regarding the MVC potential interest in UAB, some of you know these have been very difficult times for UAB Athletics. Our current president has to be one of most despised individuals in the State of Alabama and the City of Birmingham. We are still waiting to see if CUSA will allow us to stay or not. Giving the short amount of time I wouldn't expect a potential change in conference until 2016.

That said, if we are not given back our football team, I would love to see UAB in the MVC. Birmingham is the 40th largest TV market in the country and we have a very good basketball history. And the MVC would definitely be an upgrade from a basketball perspective.

Looking forward to more conversation about this subject.

I'm all for it if it becomes a real possibility somehow.

I've been pulling for UAB for some time now. Didn't really have any reason to care until a few years ago, when the lovely politics came into play to prevent UAB from hiring Jimbo Fisher as its football coach, and forced the Alabama guy instead. That turned out really well for my Seminoles, but ever since reading up on that situation and seeing how Alabama was manipulating the system, I've been cheering for UAB whenever possible. I'd love to have them in the Valley. The ridiculous of it is that if UAB had been allowed to hire Fisher, no doubt, UAB would still have their football program.

I think it'll be extremely interesting to see if this is a realistic possibility. The Valley leadership has not been known for forward-thinking in the past, to put it mildly. Even hearing that the Valley leadership has the common sense to be reaching out to UAB is happily surprising to me.

Is there a realistic possibility that UAB could get its football program back?

[MissouriValleyUnite]

Hello. As you can tell by my handle name I am a UAB fan. Congratz to Wichita and pulling for Northern Iowa to beat Louisville.

Regarding the MVC potential interest in UAB, some of you know these have been very difficult times for UAB Athletics. Our current president has to be one of most despised individuals in the State of Alabama and the City of Birmingham. We are still waiting to see if CUSA will allow us to stay or not. Giving the short amount of time I wouldn't expect a potential change in conference until 2016.

That said, if we are not given back our football team, I would love to see UAB in the MVC. Birmingham is the 40th largest TV market in the country and we have a very good basketball history. And the MVC would definitely be an upgrade from a basketball perspective.

Looking forward to more conversation about this subject.

You'll find A LOT of MVC fans supporting a UAB addition--so, so much basketball history, and your facility and market would be assets to the conference. The Blazers are the 3rd youngest team in the nation and will be scary good in 2 years, presumably UAB's inaugural year in the conference. UAB has a deep history of NCAA Tourney success when in a decent conference (CUSA v1.0), so I firmly believe the Blazers can duplicate a similar level of success in The Valley (a step down from CUSA v1.0, but definitely up from current CUSA).

I'm (perhaps unrealistically) praying for deep WSU/UNI runs, and those runs finally convincing UAB's CUSA v1.0 mate, Saint Louis, to join in conjunction with the Blazers.

One of my favorite games of all-time is the Blazers taking down #1-ranked Kentucky in the Round of 32. That was UAB's "Northern Iowa over Kansas" moment, and I'm confident Birmingham can replicate such moments as a Valley member.

[pafan]

Is there a realistic possibility that UAB could get its football program back?

The program has already been dismantled, right? So, no easy feat, if my understanding is right.

[HiddenDragon]

Is there a realistic possibility that UAB could get its football program back?

The program has already been dismantled, right? So, no easy feat, if my understanding is right.

It's a possibility albeit a small chance that we get our football program back. There is a lot of politics being played out at moment so right now it's just a bunch of uncertainty.

[Aargh]

UAB and Murray State.

Unfortunately with the way the MVC has been heading, it would be UAB and Eastern, Western, or Northern Illinois, which would not be attractive to UAB for travel.

[MissouriValleyUnite]

UAB and Murray State.

Unfortunately with the way the MVC has been heading, it would be UAB and Eastern, Western, or Northern Illinois, which would not be attractive to UAB for travel.

Don't discount an all-SIU rivalry with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, a revival of Northeastern Illinois, or the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars.

[squirrel]

Tulsa is not an option because of football. UAB is only an option because they are dropping football.

Your choices are likely SLU, Denver, Belmont, Murray St, ORU, Valparaiso.

[HiddenDragon]

UAB and Murray State.

Unfortunately with the way the MVC has been heading, it would be UAB and Eastern, Western, or Northern Illinois, which would not be attractive to UAB for travel.

I don't think travel would be a issue with UAB from a fan perspective if an invite came to fruition. I think the bigger issue is going to be if our president will allow us to join for that reason.

[TheAsianSensation]

How long is UAB being given to try and resurrect their FB program? I suspect CUSA would give them a year or so to try and figure this out first.

If it's dead, dead, dead, then I'm mostly onboard with bringing them on. The bigger issue is finding #12 to go with them, and finding the right balance of teams. I'm just not very excited about any #12 candidate. Oral Bob can financial issues I believe, and I've harped on and on about how I'm worried about how Belmont or Murray St would transition to a much higher league. Heck, Denver might be my leader in the clubhouse at the moment.

[unipanther99]

Maybe the UAB poster can address this. I'm concerned with their seeming lack of autonomy in relation to the Crimson Tide-centric University of Alabama system. If football is dead, will Tuscaloosa leave UAB alone, or are you worried about further interference?