The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Trying to keep the Blazer chatter going during the dog days of summer, so I thought of another concept to engage with everyone on the board. Each thread will focus on UAB's performance in a specific sport. I'll include some stats and references of where the sport has been historically, and will provide my views of where I think this specific program should be going forward. I'm pretty new to UAB and would love to get other, longer term, fan's perspectives of each program. I think some points to hit on would be:
1) Faith in the current coach
2) Win & Loss expectations
3) How frequently you expect to compete for conference championships
4) Where you expect for attendance to be

These are the sports that will be covered, in order. Please let me know if I should switch any around.
1) Football
2) Men's Soccer
3) Softball
4) Baseball
5) Women's Basketball
6) Men's Basketball

YEAR...RPI...WIN...LOSS
2018...74.....25....7
2017...190...14...15
2016...155...15...16
2015...187...18...13
2014...145...16...15
2013...137...18...13
5 Year Average is 178 out of 349 Programs

RPI from 2018 to 2014 and 5 year average for other programs in the state:
Alabama: 86, 109, 159, 198, 80 = 126
Auburn: 103, 50, 49, 151, 66 = 84
Troy: 175, 101, 112, 115, 252 = 151
South: 168, 247, 194, 317, 317 = 249
Samford: 164, 227, 115, 204, 292 = 200
JSU: 166, 249, 298, 208, 283 = 241
UAB 5 Year Rank: 4/7

5 Year Average for other CUSA Programs:
Charlotte: 137
FAU: 74
FIU: 80
La Tech: 133
Marshall: 90
MTSU: 192
North Texas: 126
ODU: N/A
Rice: N/A
So Miss: 166
UTEP: 191
UTSA: 138
WKU: 96
UAB 5 Year Rank: 10/12

Conference RPI Rank, our of 32 conferences:
2018: 18th
2017: 14th
2016: 12th
2015: 17th
2014: 10th

Currently, women's basketball program is one of the top athletic programs on campus. I believe last year was the first team with all of Randy's players. Last year was a pretty young team, as we only lost 3 seniors: Whitney Singleton, Kara Rawls, and Terra Lewis. Kara was the only senior that started. Deanna Kuzmanic and Maya Garland will be the only seniors this year. Deanna's a really good player with a high basketball IQ.

As far as expectations, I think anything less than a conference championship will be disappointing. We won the regular season championship, but lost in the tournament finals to WKU. WKU's coach moved on during the offseason. With a similar or slightly tougher SOS, I believe we'd break last year's school record for most wins in a season.

I think Marathon hit on the high points I want to see continue in WBB. I think Randy Norton is the right guy for UAB. I think our Lady's program will be competitive and a formidable opponent most every night. The Ladies play with a High IQ. If Coach Norton builds a Powerhouse for a few years; and we may be on the cusp of that time frame; we will have to pay handsomely to keep Coach Norton from a P5 program. Now may be the time to make sure we are grooming his #1 assistant for program and recruiting continuity.

(07-13-2018 11:19 AM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  I think Marathon hit on the high points I want to see continue in WBB. I think Randy Norton is the right guy for UAB. I think our Lady's program will be competitive and a formidable opponent most every night. The Ladies play with a High IQ. If Coach Norton builds a Powerhouse for a few years; and we may be on the cusp of that time frame; we will have to pay handsomely to keep Coach Norton from a P5 program. Now may be the time to make sure we are grooming his #1 assistant for program and recruiting continuity.

I think this is a good take. I agree that it seems like Norton is the right person for the job, just hope he's able to keep the program consistent.

A move to the AAC would be interesting to say the least

Very good recruiting class for this Fall and an excellent start for 2019...

(07-13-2018 02:20 PM)biglizard Wrote:  A move to the AAC would be interesting to say the least

A match up against UConn in the AAC would be a daunting test. But it would give our program a boost.

As long as Mark is AD & Ray is president might as well be pissing in the wind.

There will be no conference move. Their marching orders have been received.

Norton has done perhaps the best coaching job out of all of our programs outside of Clark even though it took a bit longer than expected.

UAB finished 2nd in the conference last season & still did not go to the NCAA tournament.

Yep, we are screwed big time & are in limbo land as long as Ray & Mark are around.

No insider has ever claimed knowledge that UAB was invited by any basketball only conference during its football hiatus. No one among those has claimed that UAB has been invited to any greater conference since its return. It may very well be the fault of UA System administration and its local lackies that this is the state of UAB sports programs. The fact remains that UAB sports programs are exactly in the same conference situation as when Gene Bartow left us. We have so far only "rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic" since that time.

If UAB is to move upwards in its conference affiliation, it must establish a funding base at least equivalent to that of those schools who are our competitors for conference advancement. We don't have to match the $150 million annually of the sister Athletic Department program to the west, but we do have to do better than our present level of about $30 million (or less) annually. There have been posts here that cite programs having 50% to 100% more than that level among our competitor schools.

Should be top 4 in C-USA in standings and attendance three out of every four years and competing for Championships.