OT? UAB might drop football

[mug644]

It could be a long week talking about the Badgers, so how about this for a bit of a diversion.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11967626/uab-blazers-shut-football-program

Have a chance to go to a bowl game this year, but may become the first FBS school to shut down their football program since 1975. I continue to wonder if the consolidation of the top football programs may lead to the decision by a notable number of lower-tier FBS schools to drop it. Specifically, I wonder if UConn will ultimately see that their 'athletic identity' is and will remain basketball. Drop football and they are right back in the Big East.

[Litehouse]

This came up in the UConn thread...
http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=45464.0

[Benny B]

"Members of the band and cheerleaders joined in the protest at the administrative offices on Monday."


Boy, I bet that was scary-looking protest for the administration to have to deal with.

[GooooMarquette]

"Members of the band and cheerleaders joined in the protest at the administrative offices on Monday."


Boy, I bet that was scary-looking protest for the administration to have to deal with.

LOL.  Add the math club and the administration might have given in....

[GGGG]

More of a political issue than an economic one.

[mug644]

This came up in the UConn thread...
http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=45464.0

Fair enough. I shouldn't have started a new one.

Lock it, admin, if so desired.

[GGGG]

Or maybe not...

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/06/uab_will_reinstate_football_so.html

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Or maybe not...

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/06/uab_will_reinstate_football_so.html

Hail Mary pass?

[Dawson Rental]

Hail Mary pass?

Here's an insightful comment about the immediate future for UAB football.  Remember, the program was discontinued during this year's recruiting season, and many players have transferred.

"Congrats, Blazers. That was the easy part......

Now, let's fast forward to 2016. First, that will be the final year of Bill Clark's current contract. Some of this money that has been pledged (not raised, pledged) will be needed to extend his contract in the face of numerous offers from far more stable programs if he has any success in 2016.

Even if the NCAA grants UAB a recruiting waiver for next season, you will still be essentially a year behind on scholarship athletes. Some younger fans might want to look up the 1989 SMU Mustangs. No doubt they played with heart, but took beatings of 46, 49, 53 and 74 points during a dismal season. Blazer fans need to be prepared to show up en masse at Legion Field to cheer their team on through what is likely to be a pretty dark period.

If the fans are truly willing to support the program, this will make for a heroic tale. If not, it will end again as a tragic comedy."

No word on whether Tom Crean has pledged any money toward the new on campus stadium.

[DFW HOYA]

Congrats to UAB. A college in Alabama without football might as well be a  a 70's-era shopping mall--lots of parking, but no one goes there anymore.

Yet, for as little as $500,000 a year (or about 12% of the annual Fox Sports 1 TV deal), Marquette could be playing college football on Valley Fields with the likes of Butler and Dayton, Davidson and Drake. Throw in a road game at Georgetown or Columbia, and you've got yourselves a program and a team with 100 kids that pay their own way to play for the blue and gold.

Adding sports isn't easy, but UAB chose enthusiasm over excuses.

[Dawson Rental]

Congrats to UAB. A college in Alabama without football might as well be a  a 70's-era shopping mall--lots of parking, but no one goes there anymore.

Yet, for as little as $500,000 a year (or about 12% of the annual Fox Sports 1 TV deal), Marquette could be playing college football on Valley Fields with the likes of Butler and Dayton, Davidson and Drake. Throw in a road game at Georgetown or Columbia, and you've got yourselves a program and a team with 100 kids that pay their own way to play for the blue and gold.

Adding sports isn't easy, but UAB chose enthusiasm over excuses.

lol

followed by a head shake

[Benny B]

Congrats to UAB. A college in Alabama without football might as well be a  a 70's-era shopping mall--lots of parking, but no one goes there anymore.

Yet, for as little as $500,000 a year (or about 12% of the annual Fox Sports 1 TV deal), Marquette could be playing college football on Valley Fields with the likes of Butler and Dayton, Davidson and Drake. Throw in a road game at Georgetown or Columbia, and you've got yourselves a program and a team with 100 kids that pay their own way to play for the blue and gold.

Adding sports isn't easy, but UAB chose enthusiasm over excuses.

#Pass

I'd rather be playing foosball at the Butler Inn with Aiden, David and Jake.

[GGGG]

Congrats to UAB. A college in Alabama without football might as well be a  a 70's-era shopping mall--lots of parking, but no one goes there anymore.

Yet, for as little as $500,000 a year (or about 12% of the annual Fox Sports 1 TV deal), Marquette could be playing college football on Valley Fields with the likes of Butler and Dayton, Davidson and Drake. Throw in a road game at Georgetown or Columbia, and you've got yourselves a program and a team with 100 kids that pay their own way to play for the blue and gold.

Adding sports isn't easy, but UAB chose enthusiasm over excuses.

Non-scholarship football at the D1 level is useless.