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

(03-26-2020 02:26 PM)bftb Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 02:16 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 12:07 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  It was mentioned a few posts ago that schools in the conference must do better OOC with their scheduling.
It does us no good to have no conference team anywhere close to having a decent RPI by the time the conference season starts.

I have said this continuously however some of you held this against our former coach.
This environment and facts haven't changed with a new coaching hire.

A coaching hire by itself will not create at large bids.

I would be surprised to even see an uptick in our OOC at home schedule.

The best we can look forward to is about a thousand more fans or so showing up for big games (less for the crappy games we play) and hope to create enough excitement to where it bleeds over to the team.

& maybe the team can end up in the top 2 or 3 in the conference by the end of the season (it would have probably happened this year even with Ehsan as coach) and have a decent seeding to try and get the only bid to the tournament by winning the tournament.

And with the added excitement maybe we would be able to have prospective recruits at the game instead of keeping them away from the arena due to the deadness of it.

I guarantee you AK wasn't hired with the intention of us remaining in CUSA long term. His hire is a statement to the AAC decision makers that we're serious about fielding a competitive basketball team again. Clark + Kennedy + Protective Stadium + bball practice facility + UAB's academics should have us in a great position for realignment. That equation is enhanced by Kennedy and weakened with Ehsan.

While we remain in CUSA I'm willing to bet Kennedy gets us consistently better results than Ehsan, but that's not the end game.

I agree, and that is very encouraging if true. That would mean that Ingram and Watts are actively pursuing trying to get us in the AAC, and I hope that's true. However much some of us don't trust either of those guys, we won't get into the AAC without their intentional effort and practical steps to getting us there.

Plus:
First rate track & field facility
Top notch soccer stadium
5-court beach volleyball venue
New clubhouse for the diamond sports
New intramural fields

I would say the facility projects, replacing Ehsan with Kennedy, and Clark's salary are evidence of such steps though they benefit us regardless. Watts may be a no personality BOT lackey, but one thing I'm sure that excites him is the prospect of a more self-sufficient athletic department (even if that's not realistic or fair). AAC money moves the needle in that direction.

(03-26-2020 02:16 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I guarantee you AK wasn't hired with the intention of us remaining in CUSA long term. His hire is a statement to the AAC decision makers that we're serious about fielding a competitive basketball team again. Clark + Kennedy + Protective Stadium + bball practice facility + UAB's academics should have us in a great position for realignment. That equation is enhanced by Kennedy and weakened with Ehsan.

While we remain in CUSA I'm willing to bet Kennedy gets us consistently better results than Ehsan, but that's not the end game.

I agree. In our master plan we list Cincinnati and South Florida as our peer institutions, not C-USA schools. UAB seems to be making the necessary investments to better align ourselves with who we see as our peers. Hopefully the right people are watching with interest.

(03-26-2020 02:16 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 12:07 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  It was mentioned a few posts ago that schools in the conference must do better OOC with their scheduling.
It does us no good to have no conference team anywhere close to having a decent RPI by the time the conference season starts.

I have said this continuously however some of you held this against our former coach.
This environment and facts haven't changed with a new coaching hire.

A coaching hire by itself will not create at large bids.

I would be surprised to even see an uptick in our OOC at home schedule.

The best we can look forward to is about a thousand more fans or so showing up for big games (less for the crappy games we play) and hope to create enough excitement to where it bleeds over to the team.

& maybe the team can end up in the top 2 or 3 in the conference by the end of the season (it would have probably happened this year even with Ehsan as coach) and have a decent seeding to try and get the only bid to the tournament by winning the tournament.

And with the added excitement maybe we would be able to have prospective recruits at the game instead of keeping them away from the arena due to the deadness of it.

I guarantee you AK wasn't hired with the intention of us remaining in CUSA long term. His hire is a statement to the AAC decision makers that we're serious about fielding a competitive basketball team again. Clark + Kennedy + Protective Stadium + bball practice facility + UAB's academics should have us in a great position for realignment. That equation is enhanced by Kennedy and weakened with Ehsan.

While we remain in CUSA I'm willing to bet Kennedy gets us consistently better results than Ehsan, but that's not the end game.

Yeah, Ehsan never got us a game against his former team, Maryland, unlike what Haase was able to do getting UNC into Bartow.

I don’t think that we need to waste a lot of time pimping ourselves out to the AAC right now. Let’s build our programs/facilities, win our conference consistently and then see where the chips fall come realignment time.

Winning our conference consistently and relevant OOC football and basketball games should result in more donors and season tickets sold along with an increased athletic budget.

That's all good, but I strongly suspect that athletic departments across the NCAA will be dealing with decreased attendance and donations in the wake of the covid virus. The P5's March Madness money has been cut way back as there was no tournament. That's a big chunk of anticipated budget dollars unexpectedly going poof for them.

Since we didn't get a lot from that to start with, it will hurt a bit less.

The AAC is NOT one of the POWER 5 conferences though it wishes it was. It is a conglomerate of P5 "wannabes" (contenders and pretenders) who formed a league in an act of desperate self preservation when a group of schools exited taking the conference name (BIG EAST) with them. As it happened, it was a bad time for UAB which was at that time suffering its own "Trail of Tears" or it may have been one of those chosen. Right now the AAC is waiting to see if the BIG 12 is going to add teams from their conference so they will know how many slots they have to fill.

UAB can wait until the AAC invites us, content itself with C-USA long term or consider forming another conference of like schools -- major urban universities in the major metro areas of America which might rival the AAC. Don't dream too small.

(03-26-2020 06:51 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  The AAC is NOT one of the POWER 5 conferences though it wishes it was. It is a conglomerate of P5 "wannabes" (contenders and pretenders) who formed a league in an act of desperate self preservation when a group of schools exited taking the conference name (BIG EAST) with them. As it happened, it was a bad time for UAB which was at that time suffering its own "Trail of Tears" or it may have been one of those chosen. Right now the AAC is waiting to see if the BIG 12 is going to add teams from their conference so they will know how many slots they have to fill.

UAB can wait until the AAC invites us, content itself with C-USA long term or consider forming another conference of like schools -- major urban universities in the major metro areas of America which might rival the AAC. Don't dream too small.

Georgia State as a future rival if this happens.

(03-26-2020 07:09 PM)C-Finder Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 06:51 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  The AAC is NOT one of the POWER 5 conferences though it wishes it was. It is a conglomerate of P5 "wannabes" (contenders and pretenders) who formed a league in an act of desperate self preservation when a group of schools exited taking the conference name (BIG EAST) with them. As it happened, it was a bad time for UAB which was at that time suffering its own "Trail of Tears" or it may have been one of those chosen. Right now the AAC is waiting to see if the BIG 12 is going to add teams from their conference so they will know how many slots they have to fill.

UAB can wait until the AAC invites us, content itself with C-USA long term or consider forming another conference of like schools -- major urban universities in the major metro areas of America which might rival the AAC. Don't dream too small.

Georgia State as a future rival if this happens.

Would schedule them quickly in both money sports.

(03-26-2020 06:51 PM)BAMANBLAZERFAN Wrote:  The AAC is NOT one of the POWER 5 conferences though it wishes it was. It is a conglomerate of P5 "wannabes" (contenders and pretenders) who formed a league in an act of desperate self preservation when a group of schools exited taking the conference name (BIG EAST) with them. As it happened, it was a bad time for UAB which was at that time suffering its own "Trail of Tears" or it may have been one of those chosen. Right now the AAC is waiting to see if the BIG 12 is going to add teams from their conference so they will know how many slots they have to fill.

UAB can wait until the AAC invites us, content itself with C-USA long term or consider forming another conference of like schools -- major urban universities in the major metro areas of America which might rival the AAC. Don't dream too small.

Still got hopes for the Big12 myself maybe ACC.

Pitino wouldve got us there. Lol

Lets gooo AK13!!!!!!!!!!!

Carlos Curry is leaving Ole Miss. no, no connection to AK

I read on twitter that schools are using FaceTime to give their recruits tours of their campuses.

(03-26-2020 02:44 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 02:16 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I guarantee you AK wasn't hired with the intention of us remaining in CUSA long term. His hire is a statement to the AAC decision makers that we're serious about fielding a competitive basketball team again. Clark + Kennedy + Protective Stadium + bball practice facility + UAB's academics should have us in a great position for realignment. That equation is enhanced by Kennedy and weakened with Ehsan.

While we remain in CUSA I'm willing to bet Kennedy gets us consistently better results than Ehsan, but that's not the end game.

I agree. In our master plan we list Cincinnati and South Florida as our peer institutions, not C-USA schools. UAB seems to be making the necessary investments to better align ourselves with who we see as our peers. Hopefully the right people are watching with interest.

Academically and research-wise, the ACC is more our peer group than the AAC.

Crap on Ehsan if you wish. If you spent half the time supporting Ehsan that you did crapping on him we would already be in the AAC.

Kennedy is on the clock now. All I ask is that you hold him to the same standards that you held Ehsan to.

(03-26-2020 09:33 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Crap on Ehsan if you wish. If you spent half the time supporting Ehsan that you did crapping on him we would already be in the AAC.

Kennedy is on the clock now. All I ask is that you hold him to the same standards that you held Ehsan to.

Which was?

(03-26-2020 09:38 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 09:33 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Crap on Ehsan if you wish. If you spent half the time supporting Ehsan that you did crapping on him we would already be in the AAC.

Kennedy is on the clock now. All I ask is that you hold him to the same standards that you held Ehsan to.

Which was?

Finishing middle Pod in a horrible conference.

(03-26-2020 09:33 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Crap on Ehsan if you wish. If you spent half the time supporting Ehsan that you did crapping on him we would already be in the AAC.

Kennedy is on the clock now. All I ask is that you hold him to the same standards that you held Ehsan to.

Ok, I have to ask.

If we had ALL doubled our time supporting Ehsan, just how would that already have UAB in the AAC? Please educate us.

I bet South Alabama is on schedule next year.

Yep & Riley is in the same boat that Ehsan was. He just doesn't have Jeff Hodges looking over his shoulder to take his job.

(03-27-2020 06:18 AM)Ranger1386c Wrote:  

(03-26-2020 09:33 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Crap on Ehsan if you wish. If you spent half the time supporting Ehsan that you did crapping on him we would already be in the AAC.

Kennedy is on the clock now. All I ask is that you hold him to the same standards that you held Ehsan to.

Ok, I have to ask.

If we had ALL doubled our time supporting Ehsan, just how would that already have UAB in the AAC? Please educate us.

I’d like to hear this

Imagine the position the hoops program would be in right now if we had 6000 average attendance over the last 8 years.

We didn't have anywhere close to that for Haase and it tanked even further for Ehsan.

Anyone care to recall why Memphis got the invite to the AAC? (it wasn't for football)