NCAA Basketball: Examining 10 potential moves in conference realignment
By Joey Loose
UAB to AAC
This article is not focusing specifically on how suggested moves relate to each other, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look at how the current domino effect plays a role. Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are about to join the Big 12, plus the AAC lost Connecticut last season as well. That means that the AAC is down four major members in a short amount of time and will need to get creative to replace that production.
UAB might not be as sexy as grabbing a handful of Mountain West teams, but it’s a move that would certainly solidify the conference. The Blazers have a solid basketball program while football has gotten back on track since their revival five years ago. They’re very familiar with many of the remaining schools in the AAC, having been conference mates in Conference USA with East Carolina, Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and Tulsa. They not only open up the Alabama market to the AAC but give programs like Memphis and Tulane another regional rival.
Even if the AAC shifts westward, which is still very possible, UAB provides stability and makes sense due to their familiarity with the other schools. These major cycles of conference realignment have a way of repeating themselves, and the next iteration of the AAC could look very similar to that C-USA from a dozen years ago. The concern would be that UAB doesn’t really add any pizzazz to the league, but considering the current state of the conference, the AAC would be much better off with a UAB-type school joining their ranks sooner rather than later.