3 Points And A Close
Editorial



3 Reason Why UAB Will Get An American Conference Invite

Success
In the sports that matter in conference realignment, football and basketball, UAB has been reasonably successful. Football under Coach Clark has been bowl eligible every season, has won three straight C-USA Western Division Championships and two of the last three Conference USA Championships. What has been most impressive about winning two of the last three championships is that all three have been played on the road. UAB won its first Conference USA Championship in 2018 with a 27-25 victory at Middle Tennessee, thanks to the number 12. In 2019, UAB lost in the championship game to Florida Atlantic 49-6 in Boca Raton. The Blazers rebounded in the bizarre pandemic altered season to capture its second championship by defeating Marshall on the road, 22-13.

Mark Ingram demonstrated his commitment to basketball by shockingly making a change in head coach at the beginning of the pandemic. Robert Ehsan was let go after going 76-57 in his four years leading the historic program. Ehsan left as the only coach in UAB basketball history without ever making an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Ingram did not have to look far for a replacement, bringing back a household name in UAB Basketball, Andy Kennedy. In Kennedy’s 12 seasons at Ole Miss, he averaged over 21 wins per season. He was coach of the year in 2013 and had the Rebels ranked as high as 14th in the nation. In his first season at UAB, he had 22 wins, most ever by a first-year head coach. His UAB team will probably be picked as the favorite to win the league as he has brought in some highly regarded transfers to make UAB an instant threat to make its 16th trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Academics
Academic and culture fit is one of the criteria the AAC Commissioner stated would determine which schools would receive an invite. The schools left in the AAC have a US News and World Report ranking from 42 (Tulane) to 249 (Memphis). UAB is ranked 148 and is an R1 (Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity) designated University. The Times Higher Educations Rankings named UAB for two consecutive years as the top young university in the United States. UAB’s medical school is world-renowned and ranked 21/32 for best medical schools in the country. If academics are as important as has been stated then UAB fits right in.

Facilities
UAB Football will be playing in arguably the best football stadium in the Group of Five and potentially greater than many autonomous five teams. The Blazers will begin play in Protective Stadium, the 175 million dollar investment by the public and private sector, on October 2nd as they host Liberty. The football also recently built a 22.5 million dollar practice facility. The Alabama System has also approved the construction of a men's and women’s basketball practice facility. According to UAB’s website, there have been also been 20 other facility improvements in athletics during Ingram’s tenure.

Close
Will this be enough to garner enough votes from the 8/9 remaining American Conference Presidents? Will shall find out soon enough.

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