Hey all, To everyone that's been voting that the UAB decision will end football, I hope you're wrong. I don't think it'll just be bad for UAB but I think it'll be horrible for the conference as a whole.
I think what we saw from UAB on the football field this past year was just a glimpse of the potential UAB has under Coach Bill Clark.
In my opinion, Clark is the kind of coach that can build a football factory level program... quite a bit like what O'leary did at UCF. When you combine the beautiful city of Birmingham, it is my opinion that UAB could very well be the next UCF-type program for this conference.
For those of you who just got here, CUSA has a proud history. There was a time we were regularly beating the Mountain West in our Champions Bowl. Although we are currently a one-bid league, we have multiple Final Fours to our credit (and I think we have that potential with these schools). In baseball, we've always been a very solid conference (we're continuing that now... although we have work to do on the low end).
My point is, with the tradition that we have, I can't imagine this conference minus UAB. This is the only conference that I have ever known, and there has been an identity established that UAB, Southern Miss, and Charlotte, had a HUGE part in creating. Marshall, Rice and UTEP, were also big pieces going forward in the first realignment.
However... the Originals.. Southern Miss, UAB, and Charlotte... have seen this conference at its highest, and I think that shared vision is crucial to what we build going forward.
So, let's not be so quick to write off UAB. The narrative that CUSA is losing all the programs that built the brand is detrimental to who we are as a conference.
The chatter about UTEP and Rice to the MWC disturbs me. However, they were out West while the OG's were building this thing. There is so much potential with the new programs like ODU, UTSA, WKU, etc. But, lets not forget the vision. I'm probably the biggest Charlotte 49ers football fan that didn't attend the school. I know those cats will pull their weight and then some.
Let's get UAB locked in, and then try and restart the Champion vs. Champion football game that used to conclude our season. The AAC seems to be ignoring the MWC, and that could be to our advantage.

Proud to be CUSA... from Day 1!

I'm rooting hard for UAB to revive football and remain in CUSA.

BTW, nothing says OG like opening with "Hey all,". LOL