The UAB Blazers are scheduled to return to the football field in 2017 after shutting down its football program at the end of the 2015 college football season. Getting back to business will be a challenge for the Blazers, but it looks as though they may have a little help in forming the schedule in the years after it revives the program.
According to a report from Al.com, Auburn and UAB are discussing potential plans to schedule a future football game. The Tigers do not have any scheduling vacancies to fill until 2019, so UAB would have to wait for the opportunity to play the in-state SEC program for the first time since 1996. That meeting in 1996 is the only meeting in the football series history between the two Alabama schools.
“I’ve had good conversations with Auburn,” UAB athletics director Mark Ingram said. “Jay Jacobs, the [Auburn] athletic director, is a good friend of mine. He and I have talked about it. It’s about finding the right year.”
As is so often the case in college football scheduling, non-conference commitments can fill up years in advance, especially for power conference programs like Auburn. When UAB does return to the field, they will rejoin Conference USA and will be scrambling to find some non-conference opponents to fill out its schedule. UAB has been busy doing what it can though and has already booked future games against SEC opponents Florida (2017) and Texas A&M (2018). Ingram says he was attempting to get Auburn on the schedule in 2017, but the Tigers were not available, but the dialogue has been opened.
“I think their first availability was ’19 and I needed ’17,” Ingram said. “I’ve had conversations with them. They’re interested. We’re interested. It’s just a matter of getting the guarantee right and getting the matchup right.”
Ingram is also focused on signing a deal that is most rewarding for UAB.
Get paid, UAB. Get paid.