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(03-24-2013 12:47 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:30 PM)Smaug Wrote:  How exactly has football gotten in the way of basketball?

Spell it out for the slow among us, please.

Because it is the driving factor on who our conference affiliation is. In this age of expansion and realignment, basketball should be the focus on who we are adding or where we are looking to move to. I would take the MVC conference any day over CUSA.

Take a good look around. Football is driving the realignment bus.

That's the bottom line to all of this. The money from football's TV contract is what has driven all of the conference reorganizations. That is not even about the quality of the football teams so much as it is about the potential TV eyeballs involved in the conference footprint.

Unless your school is a basketball only school, your football conference affiliation is where the money comes from. Look at what was happening to Kansas when the Big 12 was up in the air a while back - a legitimate, no kidding basketball blueblood program, and no one really wanted to grab them for their conference because the football lacked.

It works for the C7, but their entire premise is different.

(03-24-2013 12:47 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:30 PM)Smaug Wrote:  How exactly has football gotten in the way of basketball?

Spell it out for the slow among us, please.

Because it is the driving factor on who our conference affiliation is. In this age of expansion and realignment, basketball should be the focus on who we are adding or where we are looking to move to. I would take the MVC conference any day over CUSA.

If we didn't have football, there is no guarantee we would have been in the A10. Just as good a chance we would have been in the ASun. And even if we were in the A10, who's to say we would have been competitive. We could have been the St. bonaventure of the A10.

The 80s are past. They ain't coming back. Quit living in the past and look to the future. We are not getting in a major conference any time soon and have to make do with CUSA, which is a hellava lot better than some of the viable options.

(03-24-2013 01:49 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:47 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:30 PM)Smaug Wrote:  How exactly has football gotten in the way of basketball?

Spell it out for the slow among us, please.

Because it is the driving factor on who our conference affiliation is. In this age of expansion and realignment, basketball should be the focus on who we are adding or where we are looking to move to. I would take the MVC conference any day over CUSA.

If we didn't have football, there is no guarantee we would have been in the A10. Just as good a chance we would have been in the ASun. And even if we were in the A10, who's to say we would have been competitive. We could have been the St. bonaventure of the A10.

The 80s are past. They ain't coming back. Quit living in the past and look to the future. We are not getting in a major conference any time soon and have to make do with CUSA, which is a hellava lot better than some of the viable options.

Brother MB is spot on.

And by the way. We appeared in only two sweet 16s in the 80s and one of those were due to a bye, so stop acting like we were doing more.

(03-24-2013 12:41 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 11:32 AM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 07:52 AM)Smaug Wrote:  What I see is bickering between people who think football is why basketball has struggled (never mind Mediocre Mike) and those who think UAB needs both sports.

I don't believe a single egg in the football basket is at the expense of those in the basketball basket.

As long as the "A" in UAB stands for Alabama, we need the credibility football brings, no matter what the quality.

Huh? How can the quality not influence the credibility? And let's say you're right, that we need the credibility that football brings and that having a football team with our rotten facilities actually brings some.....

We need it to do what? Was life really that awful in this state in the 1980s when we didn't have football but were appearing in multiple sweet 16s? And this being a football crazy state is almost a reason NOT to have it (or at least not let it dictate your conference affiliation)..... The market is saturated and the BOT will allow us to escape from the armpit known as Legion Field.

And the single egg in the football basket IS at the expense of basketball if it is driving our membership in CUSA.

Lets get this straight, it sounds like some here believe the BOT, that if UAB DIDNT have a football team we would still have one in BAMA, well no, but not only no, but hell no.

I have a football team and they practice on the UAB campus...they still cant take that away...

I enjoy football as much as most fans, however I will not accept the PEOPLE who say, UAB should only do the things they are best known for, and leave football to bammer.

If we left things to bammer and some of you here, we would not have an Olympic gold medalist, a world class golfer, or an all pro Football receiver.
If we thought small like some want us to, we would not have a basketball, let along a sports program.

There's no reason we can't be in the top third of C-USA basketball every year. With Memphis gone, we have a shot at an autobid.

I'll take it.

(03-24-2013 12:58 PM)Smaug Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:47 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:30 PM)Smaug Wrote:  How exactly has football gotten in the way of basketball?

Spell it out for the slow among us, please.

Because it is the driving factor on who our conference affiliation is. In this age of expansion and realignment, basketball should be the focus on who we are adding or where we are looking to move to. I would take the MVC conference any day over CUSA.

Take a good look around. Football is driving the realignment bus.

That's right.... It is driving the realignment bus because football at most schools pays the bills. All we are getting for our football team is more costs from all of the other non-revenue sports we're now forced to have because of Title IX. As for the A10 vs ASUN question, of course there are no guarantees on where we would be without a football team. But we certainly wouldn't be tethered to a doormat basketball conference like we are now. And I find it hard to believe that it would be a coin flip between us being in the ASUN or A10.

(03-24-2013 02:18 PM)rebounder2u Wrote:  Lets get this straight, it sounds like some here believe the BOT, that if UAB DIDNT have a football team we would still have one in BAMA, well no, but not only no, but hell no.

I have a football team and they practice on the UAB campus...they still cant take that away...

I enjoy football as much as most fans, however I will not accept the PEOPLE who say, UAB should only do the things they are best known for, and leave football to bammer.

If we left things to bammer and some of you here, we would not have an Olympic gold medalist, a world class golfer, or an all pro Football receiver.
If we thought small like some want us to, we would not have a basketball, let along a sports program.

Nobody said you had to root for Bama. I wouldn't.

...and maximizing our conference affiliation based on what is best for basketball first is NOT thinking small. You could as easily say it's thinking BIG, but BIG intelligently and pragmatically with attention to first principles.

Of course, we love ALL the athletes in non-revenue sports, but let's face it, the Title IX requirements that come with football do dilute our limited resources.


My "man on the moon mission" for UAB is to win an NCAA basketball championship. That's the sort of focus and commitment we need. Basketball should be to UAB what the Apollo program was to NASA.

I'm hungry for BIG TIME basketball above ALL.
(in case you couldn't already tell)

(03-24-2013 03:49 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:58 PM)Smaug Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:47 PM)bartowfan Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:30 PM)Smaug Wrote:  How exactly has football gotten in the way of basketball?

Spell it out for the slow among us, please.

Because it is the driving factor on who our conference affiliation is. In this age of expansion and realignment, basketball should be the focus on who we are adding or where we are looking to move to. I would take the MVC conference any day over CUSA.

Take a good look around. Football is driving the realignment bus.

That's right.... It is driving the realignment bus because football at most schools pays the bills. All we are getting for our football team is more costs from all of the other non-revenue sports we're now forced to have because of Title IX. As for the A10 vs ASUN question, of course there are no guarantees on where we would be without a football team. But we certainly wouldn't be tethered to a doormat basketball conference like we are now. And I find it hard to believe that it would be a coin flip between us being in the ASUN or A10.

After all this latest rounds of realignment happens, CUSA will be a much better basketball conference than A10. Plus we will have a better TV contract than the A10 thanks to football. But apparently you can't see this because you are too busy looking behind you at the 80s.

Whew I have had it...we play basketball and football...unlike 33 years ago, football,football and football is where the money...media...college President are leaning, as someone stated, college sports is on a 365, 24/7 advertising cycle...because of advertising, there is an insatiable need for filling more and more spots to sell, sell and sell.

UAB, CUSA are competing for those dollars....when our product improve...the more we can ask them to pay... get it...

(03-24-2013 12:30 PM)Smaug Wrote:  How exactly has football gotten in the way of basketball?

Spell it out for the slow among us, please.

As pointed out, some of us aren't quite aware how much time has passed.

The 80's ended with the 93-94 season, when Gene pieced together a Mike Davis-style team for 94-95. He returned one starter. one guy who'd played some, two guys who rode the bench, two who sat out under the old Prop 48 and two transfers. The starter was soon in a secure psychiatric facility after a number of alarming incidents including an attempt to engage my smoking hot wife in a fistfight. The guy who'd played a little flunked out of school. The transfers apparently came from the Michigan Penal League instead of Central Michigan U. The team scored our first losing season and it could have been a hell of a lot worse: we had program-killing **** going on in the dorms thanks to the felons referenced above and little oversight from the coaching staff.

Now, this poor program management way out of Gene's usual pattern, was it the result of too much diversion of effort to the move to D-1A football or did it result from advancing age? There are those who will give you either answer and cite reasons for it. But the end of our miracle decade-plus tracks exactly with the arrival of big-time football, and that is a hard coincidence to wave away.

At some point, though, Gene would retire regardless. We might have another good banner or two hanging from our rafters, but we'd still have had Murry.

The marvelous 80s ended much sooner than that. Mitchell and Mincy had the most expectations of any team, but failed woefully short, including failure to win the conference tournament at home. The 87 team would not have made the NCAA tournament without a miracle finish and automatic bid at the tournament at WKU. There were highlights after that, but UAB did not have the sustained greatness after that.

Football had nothing to do with. It was the maturing of a product and the failure to meet expectations.

(03-24-2013 04:46 PM)rebounder2u Wrote:  Whew I have had it...we play basketball and football...unlike 33 years ago, football,football and football is where the money...media...college President are leaning, as someone stated, college sports is on a 365, 24/7 advertising cycle...because of advertising, there is an insatiable need for filling more and more spots to sell, sell and sell.

UAB, CUSA are competing for those dollars....when our product improve...the more we can ask them to pay... get it...

Wow somebody is reaching.... Sure thing dude. So no matter how big of a drain football is on everything else, we need it, dang it, because somebody in our .0000001 share on our CSS game vs Rice in October might see the UAB logo.

Yeah I bet Witchita State is really kicking themselves that they don't have D1 football right now..... Think of all the viewers they are missing out on in October on Kansas Midwest Regional Sports Network.....

Wichita State may be starting club football back.

I can see how Memphis football team has kept their basketball team down. What a pitiful record they have.

Guys, please. It's Wichita State. Not Witchita or Whichita. Maybe spelling is holding basketball back

(03-24-2013 07:20 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:54 AM)tibber Wrote:  Are we seeing the makings of a civil war here? Basketball fans vs. Football fans?

No.

Oh, it's happening. and if football doesn't show an improvement this year, it's gonna get ugly, I'm afraid. It'll be like Watson's final days.

I'll be sure to stock up on wartime provisions.

Might not be a bad idea.

(03-24-2013 08:05 PM)tibber Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 07:20 AM)Smaug Wrote:  

(03-24-2013 12:54 AM)tibber Wrote:  Are we seeing the makings of a civil war here? Basketball fans vs. Football fans?

No.

Oh, it's happening. and if football doesn't show an improvement this year, it's gonna get ugly, I'm afraid. It'll be like Watson's final days.

Not to mention when bball fans get a taste of what our already dreadful schedule looks like except without Memphis.... And with the new 300+ rpi replacements like UTSA and Old Dominion.