3 Reasons Why UAB May Get Left Behind (Again)

Wild Wild West
If UAB was a shoo-in for the American Conference, then the American Conference would not have been playing with 11 members since the exodus of UConn. According to the latest report by Dennis Dodd, UAB is the only school outside of the Mountain West being strongly considered. The commissioner of AAC, Mike Aresco, had hoped that the conference would stay together and possibly be attractive for some Big 12 teams after Texas and Oklahoma left for the SEC. Who knows what plan B is, but one reason UAB may not get an invite from the American Conference is if the AAC decides that adding a team to its eastern lineup is not necessary. The American Conference currently has 5 eastern-based teams (Memphis, South Florida, ECU, Temple, and Tulane), and adding a sixth would seem logical unless the Mountain West teams band together and demand that it's all four or none.  A western wing of the American Conference would make them the only conference in four different time zones, which could be very appealing to its TV partners. The American conference reportedly had payouts near 7 million dollars per team while the Mountain West Conference, Boise State’s current conference, had payouts of around 3 million. Dodd reported that Aresco believes that the conference will be able to keep it's 7 million dollar payouts. If the west gets wild, then UAB might be in trouble.

Eyeballs
UAB does not have a legacy of high TV ratings nor do we tend to perform well when on major networks against Power Five opponents. One reason for this is the lack of opportunity. Conference USA has a horrible television package that forces fans to watch their teams on Stadium, CBS Sports, Facebook, and ESPN+. In 2020 UAB had only one game broadcasted on ESPN, a 42-10 victory over South Alabama which drew 497,000 viewers. In 2019, UAB’s bowl game versus App St drew 963,000 viewers and their matchup against Tennessee drew 496,000 during primetime on Saturday night. While UAB ratings are not awful, they certainly don’t raise eyebrows. This year, however, UAB has faired much better. The ESPN Kick-Off Classic set its highest mark in 10 years for a Wednesday night football game and the UAB-Georgia game drew 1.1 million viewers. There are other G5 teams such as Marshall and App State who draw better audiences, but with better opportunities, UAB should improve. Until then, the numbers speak for themselves. Should ESPN yield the bigger stick and force the American Conference's hand based on ratings, UAB's future in the AAC could be in trouble.

Uncertainty
When you ask the average fan across the country about UAB, they will tell you that UAB is the team that shut down its football program. From the outside, that looks to be true. Others may say, UAB is the team that Alabama holds back and won’t allow to grow and compete. Neither of those was entirely true 7 years ago, and are not true today. As much as you would think that presidents and athletic directors are more informed and don’t think like fans, you have to wonder if they still have those questions lingering in their minds. The schools that UAB is attempting to join in the American Conference were mostly schools in Conference USA when UAB was not allowed to be its best version of itself. The good thing is, however, of the schools that were in Conference USA and now hold the votes for an invite to the American Conference (Memphis, SMU, Tulane, USF, East Carolina, and Tulsa) only one (SMU) has a president who was governing their university during their tenure in Conference USA. That coupled with anonymous sources connected to the University of Alabama System Trustees indicating to AL.com that they would support UAB’s move to the American Conference may be enough to officially consider this a none issue.

Close
Will UAB be a victim of self-inflicted wounds? Most fans don't think so and neither do I. While UAB has had some setbacks in the past, under the leadership of Coach Bill Clark and Coach Andy Kennedy, UAB is poised and primed to take advantage of the opportunities ahead. Dodd also had sources to tell him, "Boise State and UAB have been discussed most prominently among the five expansion candidates" which leads one to believe that UAB should be moving to a nicer home soon.  Can you imagine home conference games with teams like Boise St, Air Force, and Navy in Protective Stadium? I sure can!

3 REASON WHY UAB WILL GET AN AMERICAN CONFERENCE INVITE