UAB IS Sounding Way Too Optimistic About Their Future

((HT: CBS Sports/Solomon))

Jon Solomon wrote another stellar piece on the future of the UAB Athletics program- and their thinking, through the CarrSports Report, is that they'll be fine. But there are a few issues with their report.

The biggest issue is the idea that they'll be retained by Conference USA- which would be a violation of the conference's own by-laws.

From the piece:

UAB is projected to lose roughly $2 million per year in NCAA and Conference USA revenue starting in 2015-16. That includes annual payouts of $900,000 in C-USA TV revenue, $800,000 from the College Football Playoff, and $40,000 in C-USA bowl money. Carr projected a flat $800,000 from the playoff each year even though it's expected the payouts will increase.

The financial projections assume UAB will remain a C-USA member -- a value the study shows is $657,000 annually as a non-football member -- but many people believe that's unlikely to happen since C-USA's current bylaws require playing football for membership. UAB projects $350,000 per year in NCAA men's basketball tournament units from C-USA, $260,000 a year from a C-USA revenue growth supplement, and $40,000 a year from the C-USA men's basketball tournament.

The school seems to be banking on the idea that they can broker the lost football games from 2015 and lessen their make-goods: which, frankly, is a misconceived idea. Any school that might be looking for a 2015 game probably already has a schedule mapped out. And any school that is REALLY looking for a game, probably, can handle their own negotiating.

Thanks for asking, though...

There's nothing in it for the seeker- except doing President Ray Watts a solid.

And that's got to be a small group of Presidents and Athletics Directors...

There is the further assumption that people will return (or new donors will emerge) with football gone. In the south, that would be a rarity indeed. A school that had football that now does not, but will be adding cross country and track and field doesn't seem like a fair swap for donor dollars.

For the record, Solomon says CarrSports got a little under $80,000 for their wisdom using VCU, Wichita State, and the American Athletic Conference as their benchmarks for thought when it comes to UAB's future.

The HQ would think that UAB is destined for a conference like the Atlantic Sun for their sports since they're more interested in saving dollars rather than investing. That latter notion would send them to the American, the Missouri Valley, or the Atlantic-10. But cost-cutting moves like wiping out the band don't give mid-major basketball conferences reasons to be all that enthusiastic about level of competitiveness.

Tommy Spina caught up with former UAB football booster Justin Craft about the demise of the program and what can be done from here- if anything
((HT: CW21/MYTV68 Birmingham))