UAB to End Football?

[Eric]

Apparently UAB's administration sounds like they are leaning towards ending the football program. This report came out about a month or so ago and I figured it was a little bit of exaggeration considering you usually don't see FBS teams fizzle out overnight. But it sounds like the University of Alabama system is serious, because Bill Clark, the head coach, is expecting the worst. It's a shame because he looked like he had UAB pointing in the right direction, but they play at Legion Field and don't have a facility on campus. I'm sure that is part of the problem, plus most athletic departments outside of the power five with their TV contracts are net monetary drains. My guess is that we will have a few more schools on the verge, Hawaii being one of them. Apparently Hawaii is asking for state funding to keep their football program afloat.

This is part of the problem with the "college bubble" with their budgets having been inflated by the state governments over the last few years. If football is hemorrhaging millions of dollars, more teams are going to get axed. It happened with teams like Northeastern and Hofstra less than a decade ago.

[Spence]

It would have to be hard to keep the Hawaii program alive. They have a 5-6 hour flight to all away games. It has to cost teams playing them double to travel to play a game there.

[Eric]

It would be a shame for the people of Hawaii because UH football is basically their "home team." No professional sports, obviously, so everyone rallies around Hawaii football. Plus some of the most fun games I've seen over the last decade have been those Hawaii games at midnight, especially when they took on some non-conference foes in December. Long live the run-n'-shoot

Well, the money situation is why Jones left in the first place. He didn't want to commit unless they invested in better facilities. They said they didn't have the money and he took off.

[donovan]

We have talked about this before. You can not continue to have elitism without the non-elites going away. The solution has always been what is obvious, Occam's Razor, geographical and regional conferences. (Hawaii is an anomaly, but could be handled.) What doesn't work is what we have now. This makes monetary sense for only a few and that bubble can not last forever.

[Spence]

We have talked about this before. You can not continue to have elitism without the non-elites going away. The solution has always been what is obvious, Occam's Razor, geographical and regional conferences. (Hawaii is an anomaly, but could be handled.) What doesn't work is what we have now. This makes monetary sense for only a few and that bubble can not last forever.

Collegiate sports at it's core is regional. I think the larger conferences are a way to make football regional again. I think they will go to three 24 to 30 team divisions per conference. That gives you a three division winners and a wild card to play off per conference. It makes the conference championship two games. Both games at regional venues. I think the conferences go from 10 to 4. Those four teams playoff like now only without all the subjectivity of a committee. That way you only add one game. Regionally the conferences keep that money in house and the fans get those two games without flying across the country to play. The bowls are in their last days. I don't want to see that, but it is about over.

[donovan]

Regionalism kept collegiate sports alive over tough times. Money came along and disrupted that. When the money leaves, and it will, there will be nothing left. We do not need to list American Institutions where this has happened, they are many.

[Spence]

Regionalism kept collegiate sports alive over tough times. Money came along and disrupted that. When the money leaves, and it will, there will be nothing left. We do not need to list American Institutions where this has happened, they are many.

I agree, except I think they will go back to being regional before the money dries up. I think to keep the fan bases strong they have to be regional.

[donovan]

I hope so.

[Spence]

Me too. Only I don't think we will ever save the bowls. I think they will be extinct soon and forever.

[Eric]

From what I can gather, the University of Alabama System wants to force the Birmingham campus to remain part of the system so that they benefit from their med school, but shut down the football program because of the drain. Sounds like a scheme to funnel more resources to Tuscaloosa, but what do I know

I hope this doesn't hurt their opportunity to play in a bowl game. This would be a fun team to see, especially with all of the new drama surrounding them. They had a good year despite the .500 record. I'm sure the fan support would be immense if it's within a couple hundred mile radius and at least it could serve as a sending-off party.

UAB would get immediately dropped by C-USA for being a non-football member, so they would likely have to go to the Atlantic Sun, SoCon, Ohio Valley, Big South, or the Sun Belt. You don't have to play football to join the Sun Belt, so with South Alabama and Troy, that would be a great fit. The Atlantic Sun, SoCon, and Big South would generally be a step down.

[armchairqb]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/24859048/report-uab-president-to-announce-end-of-football-program-tuesday

Well, looks like this will happen.

Recently, CBS Sports' site did an article listing all the "group of five" programs that are reported to lose money. Certainly, with those programs, less is coming in than in the "Power Five" schools. That article is somewhat misleading to the uninitiated in that "Power Five" schools for the most part also run at a deficit.

Any scuttlebutt on UAB playing football in a lower division?

If you're an FCS that has moved up to FBS, to me, most schools are finding it more difficult to manage things financially. They figure "oh, we'll get $700K to be blasted by Alabama", so there's $700K coming in, but...more travel expenses, more scholarships, etc. There is less guaranteed money if you're an FCS squad playing a "money game", but overall I'm starting to believe that it's better for that school to remain in FCS (particularly if your games are well attended and you are dominant..e.g. Montana).

[Eric]

That's basically how Savannah State is funding their athletic department to compete in Division I, they play two paydate games to get annihilated. I can't say it's a complete travesty because it must be really fun for the Savannah State guys to be old one day and say they played Florida State. I'm surprised Grambling State hasn't played more of these games with their financial situation. They've played one mid-tier FBS team for the last few seasons, but I guess there's nothing stopping them from playing an SEC or ACC or Big 12 team.

[Derek]

Great thread. I agree with Donovan's points that the desire to find "the true National Champs" is driving a lot of this stuff. That and ESPN's desire for ratings.