UAB athletics tolerance

thats not how any of this works

i mean uab brings in more revenue on its own than the campus in tuscaloosa. they're also the largest employer in the state. seems objectively important.

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i mean uab brings in more revenue on its own than the campus in tuscaloosa. they're also the largest employer in the state. seems objectively important.

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The only reason those aren’t UA’s numbers is because of political maneuvering by the city (perhaps aided by Wallace wanting to get back at UA administrators for not supporting his grandstanding more). The only reason they’re FBS in football is to justify Birmingham ambition to have sports venues.

As soon as Alabama began considering playing in BDS for all home games, the movement to D1A/FBS UAB football became a thing. The outcry about getting them back in the 2010s was mostly political maneuvering to make sure their ambitions for the eventual Protective Stadium would have a permanent tenant.

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yeah im sure it had nothing to do with birmingham being the major city of the state and tuscaloosa being a little town. just politicians conspiring to pretend those things are true. very sound logic here. if ifs and buts were candy and nuts...

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UA mints degrees. There was no reason to divide the research capacity of UA between two institutions. It is the reason we will never be at the level of the best public institutions in our conference. Less than an hour distance between the campuses. Ridiculous blunder.

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i mean uab brings in more revenue on its own than the campus in tuscaloosa. they're also the largest employer in the state. seems objectively important.

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UAB is the state's third largest employer but that footprint is largely thanks to UA giving Birmingham the medical school. Take away their massive medical/research apparatus and you're not left with anything remotely resembling their current economic footprint. So by all means, let them "secede" but then take the medical school, research assets and everything that came from UA back and see what they're actually left with... especially seeing as how Birmingham is the biggest shithole in Alabama.

the ridiculous blunder that led to the system having an elite research institution in the state's major city that brings in more revenue than any of its other campuses.

opinions vary on how much of a blunder it was i guess.

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the ridiculous blunder that led to the system having an elite research institution in the state's major city that brings in more revenue than any of its other campuses. opinions vary on how much of a blunder it was i guess.

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UAB is not a top public research university. They’re 132 and Alabama is 169 in USNWR. That is my point. UAB lacks research output in areas outside of medicine. The importance of medicine in research accounts why they’re modestly higher than the flagship and why flagship can never achieve top public institution levels.

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. The importance of medicine in research accounts why they’re modestly higher than the flagship

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i guess if it's medical research it doesnt count? as if this is an argument against what i said... but sure, they're a tier 2 medical school nationally, a top 12 receiver in NIH funding. there is nothing else remotely close to that in this state, let alone in the ua system. take issue with 'elite', sure. but that's the obvious point being made.

and it's not like the campuses are actually in competition in this way; they are complimentary parts of the same system, a system in which uab is bringing substantial revenue, more than any other campus as i said.

i think it's fine if they have a shitty football team personally.

I only think that UAB should just be UA and their football team would be in Tuscaloosa. The only thing that would be a sticking point is the level of redundancy to allow Jefferson county commuters to finish degrees without going to Tuscaloosa. Ultimately I think that is why it is its own campus. I think online programs make that more feasible than ever.

I think the overall perception of UA academics is going to become more important to recruiting out of state kids if this isn’t a perpetual winning big football party.