CULLMAN, Ala. — The University of Alabama may have not proven such a bully on the football field this year, taking it on the chin against Ohio State in the national playoff semifinal. But it may yet flex its muscle in state politics.
While Bama and 75 other Football Bowl Subdivision teams played postseason games this season, the University of Alabama-Birmingham was one of only a few bowl-eligible teams that went uninvited. That’s largely because of UAB President Ray Watts’ recent decision to end the football, bowling and rifle teams at the university after the 2014-15 school year.
Watts said the choice was financially motivated, but critics claim pressure from the Tuscaloosa sect of the University of Alabama System’s Board of Trustees might have been the biggest factor.
The board previously nixed a 30,000-seat on-campus stadium for UAB (the team has played at aging Legion Field) and the hiring of Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher. Now the prevailing theory is the board pushed for elimination of the football program entirely, a theory Watts denied.
“Let me make it very clear: the board of trustees had no role in the strategic plan,” Watts told reporters in November.
Birmingham-area lawmaker Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, says he will push a bill in the 2015 legislative session that would require UAB to play football, although a state political expert predicts the Legislature will punt.
“There are many, many people — the overwhelming majority in this community — that think the City of Birmingham, Jefferson County, the metropolitan area is a richer place because of having an amenity such as UAB and UAB football, and having the college experience that provides for college students,” Williams said at his news conference.
William Stewart, professor emeritus of political science at UA, thinks it’s likely an unwinnable fight, perhaps on par with UAB defeating Alabama on the football field.
“I personally think that the University of Alabama has enough power to prevent legislation requiring a particular institution in its system from doing anything related to athletics that it doesn’t want to do,” he said.
