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

To me, the conference affiliation is not that big of a deal. I would rather be the big fish like Gonzaga or like Wichita State used to be before moving to the AAC than an also ran in some conference that we don’t have the resources to compete on a regular basis.

It won’t hurt my feelings to win a championship every year in football and basketball.

(04-08-2020 11:24 AM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  

(04-08-2020 10:48 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  

(04-08-2020 10:44 AM)BlazerFromMD Wrote:  but they are definitely not our academic peers.

The Rice fans on the board send their condolences. As far as I can tell the two conferences that really take the academic side as serious as the athletic is the Pac-12 and the ACC. The Ivies don't take athletics seriously. I don't think there's any tweener or FCS that puts a similar emphasis on the academic mission, at least none that readily come to mind.

1) Have you met a Big 10 fan? They think their schools are ivy league quality, which has always been crazy to me because they can't even count the number of schools in their conference accurately.

2) I don't think the ACC can be in that boat after letting in Louisville. I did the math a few years ago on the average rank according to US News and ACC was #1, but then they added Louisville.

3) I agree with 58-56. **** like this is just growing dissent in CUSA. This conference finally seems to be improving, and finally developing some rivalries, but then we get stuff like this where everyone thinks they should take UConn's spot and start tearing each other down.

I've lived in the middle of Big10 country for 13 of the past 14 years (with 1 year Nashville sprinkled in). This is the first time I've ever heard that argument. I mean, lots of grads are proud of their schools' academic records (as they should be)...but much more commonly, I hear them boast about the amount of alcohol that is consumed at tailgates

(04-09-2020 07:30 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  To me, the conference affiliation is not that big of a deal. I would rather be the big fish like Gonzaga or like Wichita State used to be before moving to the AAC than an also ran in some conference that we don’t have the resources to compete on a regular basis.

It won’t hurt my feelings to win a championship every year in football and basketball.

A lot of people made that argument against football. Do you think we would be better of if we were still in the sunbelt as a non-football member?

(04-09-2020 08:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 07:30 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  To me, the conference affiliation is not that big of a deal. I would rather be the big fish like Gonzaga or like Wichita State used to be before moving to the AAC than an also ran in some conference that we don’t have the resources to compete on a regular basis.

It won’t hurt my feelings to win a championship every year in football and basketball.

A lot of people made that argument against football. Do you think we would be better of if we were still in the sunbelt as a non-football member?

I don’t see any reason or benefit to split conference membership with our two major sports. I believe that we need to build our donor numbers and fan base before we worry about conference affiliation. Being the big fish helps with that.

Btw, I am along time season ticket holder in both sports. I don’t miss many home games in either sport even in the down years.

Here's the real time aggregate data on UAB fans (see the UAB specific sheet): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

(04-09-2020 08:58 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 07:30 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  To me, the conference affiliation is not that big of a deal. I would rather be the big fish like Gonzaga or like Wichita State used to be before moving to the AAC than an also ran in some conference that we don’t have the resources to compete on a regular basis.

It won’t hurt my feelings to win a championship every year in football and basketball.

A lot of people made that argument against football. Do you think we would be better of if we were still in the sunbelt as a non-football member?

I don’t see any reason or benefit to split conference membership with our two major sports. I believe that we need to build our donor numbers and fan base before we worry about conference affiliation. Being the big fish helps with that.

Btw, I am along time season ticket holder in both sports. I don’t miss many home games in either sport even in the down years.

The argument was that we should never have started football. The argument was that we should have stayed in the Sunbelt so we could dominate a weak conference instead on not dominating a better one.

(04-09-2020 09:02 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Here's the real time aggregate data on UAB fans (see the UAB specific sheet): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

Here's the conference from that link if anyone doesn't feel like clicking:
1) UAB
2) La Tech
3) Marshall
4) Middle Tenn
5) ODU
6) So Miss
7) Charlotte
8) WKU
9) App State
10) Georgia State

I like it. Personally I'd swap out ODU for Liberty or one of the in-state schools, but I'd definitely be into that.

(04-09-2020 09:02 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Here's the real time aggregate data on UAB fans (see the UAB specific sheet): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

As somebody that works in data analysis, that poll is a mess friend. A lot of the available responses are heavily guided/targeted and the range of responses are not conducive to any sort of survey I would consider analytically sound. Particularly the first question. There's only two options "available" to UAB people and neither of them accurately represent how UAB fans are likely to feel about that question. Then you have a bunch of answers available for only one or two schools...which you can see some UAB fans picked simply because the answers available to them were rubbish.

I just don't understand what sort of data you are hoping to extract from a poll like this because it doesn't make any sense of how fans actually feel.

(04-09-2020 09:43 AM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:02 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Here's the real time aggregate data on UAB fans (see the UAB specific sheet): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

As somebody that works in data analysis, that poll is a mess friend. A lot of the available responses are heavily guided/targeted and the range of responses are not conducive to any sort of survey I would consider analytically sound. Particularly the first question. There's only two options "available" to UAB people and neither of them accurately represent how UAB fans are likely to feel about that question. Then you have a bunch of answers available for only one or two schools...which you can see some UAB fans picked simply because the answers available to them were rubbish.

I just don't understand what sort of data you are hoping to extract from a poll like this because it doesn't make any sense of how fans actually feel.

I believe this is what you call entertainment on a message board. He is not trying to develop meaningful data just something to generate interest on a sports message board when there are no sports

(04-09-2020 09:43 AM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:02 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Here's the real time aggregate data on UAB fans (see the UAB specific sheet): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

As somebody that works in data analysis, that poll is a mess friend. A lot of the available responses are heavily guided/targeted and the range of responses are not conducive to any sort of survey I would consider analytically sound. Particularly the first question. There's only two options "available" to UAB people and neither of them accurately represent how UAB fans are likely to feel about that question. Then you have a bunch of answers available for only one or two schools...which you can see some UAB fans picked simply because the answers available to them were rubbish.

I just don't understand what sort of data you are hoping to extract from a poll like this because it doesn't make any sense of how fans actually feel.

You put me on payroll with a salary and benefits and we'll talk analytical methods and best practices.

If I'm doing it just for the giggles though, it's going to be without unnecessary self-flagellation. If you're that into BDSM, step right up and show us how it's done.

(04-09-2020 09:17 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:58 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 07:30 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  To me, the conference affiliation is not that big of a deal. I would rather be the big fish like Gonzaga or like Wichita State used to be before moving to the AAC than an also ran in some conference that we don’t have the resources to compete on a regular basis.

It won’t hurt my feelings to win a championship every year in football and basketball.

A lot of people made that argument against football. Do you think we would be better of if we were still in the sunbelt as a non-football member?

I don’t see any reason or benefit to split conference membership with our two major sports. I believe that we need to build our donor numbers and fan base before we worry about conference affiliation. Being the big fish helps with that.

Btw, I am along time season ticket holder in both sports. I don’t miss many home games in either sport even in the down years.

The argument was that we should never have started football. The argument was that we should have stayed in the Sunbelt so we could dominate a weak conference instead on not dominating a better one.

Most folks that I heard say that were fans of the football team down I-59.

(04-09-2020 09:47 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:43 AM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:02 AM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  Here's the real time aggregate data on UAB fans (see the UAB specific sheet): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1..._PbC4LH4I/

As somebody that works in data analysis, that poll is a mess friend. A lot of the available responses are heavily guided/targeted and the range of responses are not conducive to any sort of survey I would consider analytically sound. Particularly the first question. There's only two options "available" to UAB people and neither of them accurately represent how UAB fans are likely to feel about that question. Then you have a bunch of answers available for only one or two schools...which you can see some UAB fans picked simply because the answers available to them were rubbish.

I just don't understand what sort of data you are hoping to extract from a poll like this because it doesn't make any sense of how fans actually feel.

I believe this is what you call entertainment on a message board. He is not trying to develop meaningful data just something to generate interest on a sports message board when there are no sports

I misunderstood the purpose. I thought this was to figure out how fans really felt about things. This poll doesn't do that really at all.

But for message board fodder, it worked. It got me to comment afters months of not caring enough to post.

(04-09-2020 10:44 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:17 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:58 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 07:30 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  To me, the conference affiliation is not that big of a deal. I would rather be the big fish like Gonzaga or like Wichita State used to be before moving to the AAC than an also ran in some conference that we don’t have the resources to compete on a regular basis.

It won’t hurt my feelings to win a championship every year in football and basketball.

A lot of people made that argument against football. Do you think we would be better of if we were still in the sunbelt as a non-football member?

I don’t see any reason or benefit to split conference membership with our two major sports. I believe that we need to build our donor numbers and fan base before we worry about conference affiliation. Being the big fish helps with that.

Btw, I am along time season ticket holder in both sports. I don’t miss many home games in either sport even in the down years.

The argument was that we should never have started football. The argument was that we should have stayed in the Sunbelt so we could dominate a weak conference instead on not dominating a better one.

Most folks that I heard say that were fans of the football team down I-59.

there have been plenty here and on rivals before

(04-09-2020 11:23 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 10:44 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 09:17 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:58 AM)MAN4UAB Wrote:  

(04-09-2020 08:39 AM)UAB Schnauzer Wrote:  A lot of people made that argument against football. Do you think we would be better of if we were still in the sunbelt as a non-football member?

I don’t see any reason or benefit to split conference membership with our two major sports. I believe that we need to build our donor numbers and fan base before we worry about conference affiliation. Being the big fish helps with that.

Btw, I am along time season ticket holder in both sports. I don’t miss many home games in either sport even in the down years.

The argument was that we should never have started football. The argument was that we should have stayed in the Sunbelt so we could dominate a weak conference instead on not dominating a better one.

Most folks that I heard say that were fans of the football team down I-59.

there have been plenty here and on rivals before

They either didn’t like football or were closet fans of the Tuscaloosa branch.

In the 1980s, I (UAB C/O 72) was among those Bama fans (C/O 63) who WANTED B'ham to have the same quality of home team experience that Auburn, AL and Tuscaloosa, AL were having. Should UAB have taken that step? I think the "Founding Fathers" of UAB sports were right to go ahead under their known conditions of 1990. They could not have known that UAB would be sustaining FBS D1 scholarships by 1994, have to go almost 30 years before building any new football facility, or that the USA would embark on two multiTrillion dollar wars (that are still in progress) driving American construction costs up by exponential amounts. Had they known such facts then, they might have reached a different decision. (The estimated costs of the MPF in 1998 (which they might have expected to be built) were not hugely greater than the eventual 2021 costs of the much more modest Protective Stadium)

ACC or bust!!!

Yep I would have never chosen ANY of those schools had I had another option.

(04-10-2020 02:39 AM)Magiccityrob Wrote:  ACC or bust!!!

$0.02:

I think Fuhrer Mickey will over time merge the ACC-SEC-Big12 into a "league" that Disney and Disney alone controls 100% of content rights to. Then you'll have the Pac-12 and B1G cementing their long love affair in Pasadena (+/- ND, the ACC's Northern 3, and Nebraska) under the auspices of FOX. This eliminates the trade off that was made in expansion in the first place: regional scheduling. The ACC and SEC and Big 12 are all wholly or huge majority owned by Disney already. But because they exist as non-overlapping entities within a parent media company, there's a lot of big dollar items not allowed to happen right now much if at all: TX vs TAMU, TX vs ARK, VT vs TN, GT vs Auburn, UNC vs USC-e, GT vs USC-e, Clemson vs UGAg, FSU vs Auburn, and so on and so on and so on. Just as you're not a fan of some of your conference mates that holds of literally every P5 and G5 with the possible exception of the Pac-12 and MAC due to expansion. Nobody wants to see Missouri vs South Carolina or Boston College vs Wake Forest or Minnesota vs Rutgers or West Virginia vs Iowa State. So that's a ton of lost gate revenue and some lost TV revenue. Fuhrer Mickey tends to be very good at wringing cash factories like a sponge (Marvel, Star Wars, DWR, pretty much everything they own), so I think it will eventually get addressed. I have no idea if that opens the door to more or less teams at that level. But it will depend upon in part the huge cash infusion from an expansion of the CFP to 8, which will almost certainly come with a G5 autobid which will strongly motivate the G5s to make sure that regardless of how they are organized their FB title game pits #1 vs #2 to give them the best shot at that autobid. You're not necessarily going to get #1 vs #2 in a 12-team conference aligned by divisions. Even if what I started with never ever happens the CFP expansion appears to just be a matter of time, so that will at minimum cause restructuring within the G5, and it might make sense to trim conferences down to 9 or 10 instead of being at 12 with divisions. A title game with 2-3 less mouths to feed is probably substantially more lucrative for the G5.

All signs seem to point to a lot of conference shifting and playoff expansion in the next 5-6 years. I think a G5 playoff autobid will really help all G5 schools - should have more revenue from an expanded playoff and it creates at least a legit mathematical path to a national championship.

Hopefully UAB is ready to move up in the world as things start shifting. I'm not sure if we can make the move all the way up to the P5 level, but hopefully we'll be aligned with the best of the G5 (whether that's AAC or a new conference) to have the best shot at the G5 autobid each year. All the steps we've been taking in the last couple years tells me we're trying to position ourselves for such a move. Just have to make it happen.

If i remember my 10 correctly I chose UAB, USM, ODU, WKU, App St, Georgia St, Troy, Charlotte, MTSU and La Tech. Toughest omissions were Marshall (probably prefer Mac) and Rice (long time member and boosts academic profile). Id be perfectly happy with a conference that looks like this. Also Id be good with adding basketball only members if they brought something to the table, like Murray St and Belmont.

Some kind of movement towards regional realignment is going to have to occur, especially in light of recent events.