#FreedUAB. Six months after it disappeared, UAB football is back. Embattled university president Ray Watts announced Monday that the school is “taking steps” to reinstate football after receiving $17.2 million worth of donations, with much coming from first-time donors. Watts stood behind his decision to cut the program, stating football was not viable without those funds.
THE READ OPTION: UAB football is coming back! At some point!
Good morning! It’s your daily roundup of college football stuff.
It appears coach Bill Clark is returning, and the school plans to raise funds for much-needed upgrades.
BREAKING new UAB AD Mark Ingram will form committee to raise $13-14 million to upgrade athletic facilities includes practice field
— Alan Collins (@fox6alancollins) June 1, 2015
Bill Clark officially back to work as Coach of #UAB Football. His statement pic.twitter.com/kQ7Ap5lcsO
— Jim Dunaway (@jimdunaway) June 1, 2015
Still, questions remain, and the press conference didn’t provide much confidence. When will UAB return? The goal is 2016, but the Blazers might not be able to compete in Conference USA right away. Moreover, what is the plan to get donations to continue to pour in? And did UAB really need to cut football in the first place?
In the meantime, here’s the return in movie form.
10-win Penn State? Penn State was mediocre in its first year under James Franklin. The future looks bright, but is success still a few years away? Maybe not. Allow Bill Connelly to talk you into believing Penn State could win 10 games in 2015.
Chipotle champs. Chipotle is the lifeblood of college students, so we ranked each FBS campus by how close it is to a Chipotle. Mizzou won a game of inches among power-conference schools, but San Diego State is your national champ.
#NotOurRival. UConn and UCF are not rivals, but this is college football, where any game can feature a trophy. UConn appeared to announce the Huskies would play UCF for the “Civil Conflict” trophy every year.
First day back on campus for #UConnFootball! And just 130 days until the next Civil Conflict with @UCF_Football ! pic.twitter.com/RgOkXiob0T
— UConn Football (@UConnFootball) June 1, 2015
The only way this could get more absurd is if UConn made this trophy just to congratulate itself on beating UCF without actually telling the Knights.
Just checked w/ @UCF_Football: "We have no involvement with the trophy or creating a rivalry game with UConn." They were surprised by tweet.
— Brandon Helwig (@UCFSports) June 1, 2015
Hot or not seat. At most schools, back-to-back 5-7-win years would put a coach on the hot seat, but Pat Fitzgerald's seat isn't warm at Northwestern. Is there anything that might put the pressure on?
Gopher Up. Minnesota’s improvement in the Jerry Kill era has been remarkably consistent.
A new offense at Alabama? An in-depth look at the “pro-style spread” that could emerge.
A change in late-night: Everyone’s favorite college football postgame show analyst, Mark May, will no longer be on ESPN’s College Football Final. However, he’s not leaving the network and will still provide college football analysis.
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