UAB, five other schools join American Athletic Conference
A screen attached to a mural in a multipurpose room at Protective Stadium displays the American Athletic Conference star within the UAB logo. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)
This time the dominoes fell on the Southside of Birmingham as UAB on Thursday accepted an invitation to join the American Athletic Conference.
AAC Commissioner Michael Aresco said during a Thursday press conference that UAB’s DNA is to compete.
“They’ve got a brand new stadium in the heart of Birmingham,” he said. “They’re in a location that loves college sports, especially college football. That’s true of our other schools as well.”
The commissioner added that the fervent fanbase was another plus. “You probably can’t find a more intense place when it comes to college football,” he said of Birmingham.
The American announced that Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice and Texas-San Antonio will join UAB as new members in the league. The addition of those six brings to 14 the number of programs in the league with current AAC members East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, Southern Methodist, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State.
It is unclear when new members will begin play in the AAC.
UAB Joins the American Athletic Conference from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The initial dominoes of this conference realignment season fell months ago when Texas and Oklahoma announced they are leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. The Big 12 responded by pulling in Brigham Young and three AAC powers – Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida.
BYU is an independent in football while other sports play in the West Coast Conference. The Cougars are preparing the join the Big 12 in 2023.
“As we studied expansion, we heard from a number of schools who expressed interest in joining the conference, who saw the success that our members have had in this conference over the first nine years,” Aresco said. “They wanted to be part of what is a promising future. But as that process played out, it became clear that we had a great opportunity to shape the long-term future by adding schools that not only share our philosophy of competition at the highest level but have shown that they’re willing to make the necessary investments to do so.
“That,” the commissioner said, “is really critical. They have a lot of other things that make them special, but these were some of the key factors.”
UAB Athletics Director Mark Ingram said Birmingham has experienced a fantastic renaissance, spurred by the input of community leaders, and city and Jefferson County officials.
“We could not have done it without so many people behind us and supporting us,” he said. “We have built or renovated 23 facilities in the last six-and-a-half years, culminating in our most recent project, which is Protective Stadium, where we now play football and what we consider to be the finest college football stadium in America.”
The move to the American gives UAB a higher profile when it comes to television exposure. ESPN is the league’s primary media partner. “We also enjoy network basketball broadcasts as well on CBS Sports,” Aresco said. “They do some select network broadcasts, and we have there another valued partner.”
Several of the athletic directors whose programs are joining the American talked about renewed in-state rivalries. UAB renews its rivalries with Memphis and Tulane, while creating new rivalries.
Ok, we can finally say it…
The Battle of the Bones is COMING BACK!
(And so is the best trophy…ever). pic.twitter.com/wk8vG18J5G
— UAB Football 🏆 (@UAB_FB) October 21, 2021
“We’re two-and-a-half hours away from Memphis and I’ve had a tremendous rivalry with Memphis,” Ingram said. “Most people may not realize this, but Birmingham, Alabama, is basically the geographic center of the American Athletic Conference. That was important for us as well.
“The opportunity to be aligned with other great schools who have a shared vision as we do to first of all focus on ourselves and be great and do all that we can to be great in representing our university was important to us,” Ingram said. “We felt confident in Commissioner Aresco and what that meant to us, and feel very, very positive about the opportunity moving forward.”
Aresco declined to talk about the payout member schools will get once the moves are complete. Ingram said he asked about divisions within the new 14-school conference. That hasn’t been determined yet, he said, adding that he’s been invited to be part of that conversation.
The commissioner added that it is possible the league could grow more.
“What I don’t want to do … is destabilize anything at this point,” he said. “We’ve had a lot going on in the last few weeks. We didn’t start this and it’s snowballed a bit. It’s probably better now to tamp it down.
“But I have to be honest and say, yes, we will potentially (add more) If a school showed interest in us,” Aresco said. “We are not going to be going out in town, tapping people on the shoulder.”
UAB President Ray Watts made it clear that the Blazers don’t plan to simply be in the American.
“We are planning to win,” he said. “I told the commissioner that we’re coming to the conference to win championships and pursue excellence in all that we do.”
