From the article:


UAB coach Bill Clark said Sunday he believes the school's football program is about to be shut down

"I think it's going to happen," said Clark, who led UAB to a 6-6 record in his first season at the school. "Unless something changes before the weekend ends, I think it's over. I think the odds are very high it ends this week. To shut the doors? That's sad."

Clark has been in contact with school and Conference USA officials as recently as Sunday. UAB commissioned a university-wide strategic planning initiative to evaluate things like fiscal feasibility.

Here is the link:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...-shut-down

From USA Today article:
Another person with direct knowledge of Conference USA matters told USA TODAY Sports that the league's commissioner, Britton Banowsky, did not have enough support among school presidents to keep UAB in the league without football.

(11-30-2014 03:28 PM)stever20 Wrote:  From USA Today article:
Another person with direct knowledge of Conference USA matters told USA TODAY Sports that the league's commissioner, Britton Banowsky, did not have enough support among school presidents to keep UAB in the league without football.

Also from this afternoon from USA Today:

With UAB's football future hanging in the balance, a person close to the decision-making process told USA TODAY Sports that athletics director Brian Mackin has given indications the program will shut down this week and that Mackin is working on a separation agreement from the university.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conversations were supposed to be private.

Mackin did not return multiple calls and text messages seeking comment.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca...t4H1uR.NhQ

I mean, this week? As in they can't go to a bowl game now that they're eligible? That's a total dick move.

(11-30-2014 03:38 PM)CommuterBob Wrote:  I mean, this week? As in they can't go to a bowl game now that they're eligible? That's a total dick move.

It is over for UAB Football...Breaking from CBS Sports...AD Fired and Football is shut down.

UAB athletic director Brian Mackin is reportedly out and the football program could be shut down as soon as this week, according to multiple media reports.

USA Today's Dan Wolken and Sports Illustrated are reporting that Mackin, the Blazers athletic director since 2007, will be fired as part of major changes to the athletic department that will include shutting down the football program. UAB will become the first Football Bowl Subdivision/Division I-A school to drop football since Pacific in 1995.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...-this-week

(11-30-2014 03:38 PM)CommuterBob Wrote:  I mean, this week? As in they can't go to a bowl game now that they're eligible? That's a total dick move.

Everything the Bama people have done to UAB football is just one dick move after another.

Wow, I hope they at least let them play their bowl game before turning out the lights

Horrible situation. UAB deserves to end with a bowl game.

(11-30-2014 03:55 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Wow, I hope they at least let them play their bowl game before turning out the lights

They're not getting a bowl game. CUSA has 7 bowl eligible teams and only 5 spots.

@FootballScoop: Note for coaches: The coaches at UAB are getting straight up hosed re: their contracts. Significant displeasure w UAB admin…& their agent

@FootballScoop: Some people are very upset with their agent. Contracts not at all what they were told (by their agent) it would be. Do your homework guys

(11-30-2014 03:55 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Wow, I hope they at least let them play their bowl game before turning out the lights

I'm not sure they get a bowl invite. CUSA doesn't have enough bowls to cover everyone they have eligible, and I think the school who's killing football and leaving the conference is elected to stay home.

I wonder if the announcement is not just killing UAB football, but killing UAB athletics. To stay Division I, they'd have to start another men's sport to replace football. If you're cutting football to save money, you can't turn around and add wrestling or track, can you? So are they looking at Division II or III? Either of those is a money-losing proposition.

I think the entire UAB athletic program is shutting down. (It's possible that the UAB president doesn't know this yet--it would be the AD's job to figure out the transition to non-FBS Division I or whatever, and he's leaving.)

Low down on the totem pole, but will the teams that have UAB scheduled get reimbursed/be able to find a substitute? TN was supposedly to play them in Nashville next year, KY the next

(11-30-2014 04:03 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 03:55 PM)10thMountain Wrote:  Wow, I hope they at least let them play their bowl game before turning out the lights

I'm not sure they get a bowl invite. CUSA doesn't have enough bowls to cover everyone they have eligible, and I think the school who's killing football and leaving the conference is elected to stay home.

I wonder if the announcement is not just killing UAB football, but killing UAB athletics. To stay Division I, they'd have to start another men's sport to replace football. If you're cutting football to save money, you can't turn around and add wrestling or track, can you? So are they looking at Division II or III? Either of those is a money-losing proposition.

I think the entire UAB athletic program is shutting down. (It's possible that the UAB president doesn't know this yet--it would be the AD's job to figure out the transition to non-FBS Division I or whatever, and he's leaving.)

When they fired their AD---this thought entered my mind. On the other hand, they may just be going with a much less expensive option to run a significantly trimmed down department.

Another sport perhaps wouldnt need a 100million dollar investment. Stadium etc..

(11-30-2014 04:14 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  Another sport perhaps wouldnt need a 100million dollar investment. Stadium etc..

They have women's cross-country and track. They could add that for men easily. Anything else would be difficult. There aren't many close-by men's volleyball or wrestling programs.

(11-30-2014 04:23 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 04:14 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  Another sport perhaps wouldnt need a 100million dollar investment. Stadium etc..

They have women's cross-country and track. They could add that for men easily. Anything else would be difficult. There aren't many close-by men's volleyball or wrestling programs.

They only need one more men's sport, and could (will?) easily cut a few women's sports as well.

I really didn't think they would shut down football despite all the talk. Their attendance isn't THAT bad. Alabama loves college football. If Kent and Akron can continue, UAB certainly could. And several of their old Sun Belt peers-USF, ODU, Charlotte, USA-have added football. WKU moved up to FBS and Jacksonville added non-scholarship football. Only VCU hasn't gone in that direction.

(11-30-2014 04:24 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 04:23 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 04:14 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  Another sport perhaps wouldnt need a 100million dollar investment. Stadium etc..

They have women's cross-country and track. They could add that for men easily. Anything else would be difficult. There aren't many close-by men's volleyball or wrestling programs.

They only need one more men's sport, and could (will?) easily cut a few women's sports as well.

You can't really have a decent cross-country or track program without having both.

(11-30-2014 04:24 PM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 04:23 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 04:14 PM)cleburneslim Wrote:  Another sport perhaps wouldnt need a 100million dollar investment. Stadium etc..

They have women's cross-country and track. They could add that for men easily. Anything else would be difficult. There aren't many close-by men's volleyball or wrestling programs.

They only need one more men's sport, and could (will?) easily cut a few women's sports as well.

I believe they can only cut one sport for women if they want to stay in D-I. They can, however, reduce the # of scholarships they give. As a non-football playing school, they no longer are required to offer a minimum of 200 scholarships.

(11-30-2014 04:03 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  I wonder if the announcement is not just killing UAB football, but killing UAB athletics. To stay Division I, they'd have to start another men's sport to replace football. If you're cutting football to save money, you can't turn around and add wrestling or track, can you? So are they looking at Division II or III? Either of those is a money-losing proposition.

It's a "lose less money" proposition. If you assume that donations to the athletic department were negligible already and will still be negligible going forward, then it's pretty much all expenses and very little revenue in any event.

UAB's athletic budget in 2013-14 was about $30.4 million, per the Department of Education's Equity in Athletics database, http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/GetOneInstitutionData.aspx

For the same year, examples of expenses reported by some no-football D-I schools in the south: East Tennessee State, $7.9 million; Belmont, $12.3 million; Florida Gulf Coast, $11.0 million; University of North Florida, $10.0 million.

Even taking the high end of that, they'd spend $18 million/year less as a D-I no-football program, and the only significant lost revenue is whatever the annual CUSA distribution is. Even if CUSA pays out $2 million/year, they're still cutting their losses by $16 million/year.

IMO, those numbers only work for schools that wouldn't lose much in the way of annual donations if they drop FBS football. If a school dropping football would lose $10 million/year from upset donors (whether that's athletic donations or university donations), it's probably not worth the move.