AAC Basketball: Examining 8 potential candidates for expansion

UAB

Every few years, we seem to entertain these rumors of conference realignment. Timing is always important, which is why schools like Middle Tennessee aren’t on the list this time (sorry Blue Raiders). That being said, despite what happens with these cycles of realignment, history has a way of repeating itself. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising to see the AAC looking a bit like Conference USA from the late 2000’s.

UAB’s football team was abandoned six years ago, but since its revival has played fantastically under coach Bill Clark. The basketball team is trending in the right direction under former SEC head coach Andy Kennedy, winning 22 games in his first season. UAB was part of that old Conference USA with current AAC members like East Carolina, SMU, and Tulsa and would slide into the AAC as if it was the olden days.

UAB is a sensible addition to the conference, which makes sense both historically and geographically, not to mention their competitiveness in the flagship sports. It all depends on if the conference wants to take a big swing with those west coast schools before extending an offer to a school like UAB. Schools like Louisiana Tech and UAB clearly haven’t outgrown Conference USA, but the AAC would certainly provide opportunities to both of these programs for the future.