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Report: C-USA likely to drop UAB if football isn't reinstated

Report: C-USA likely to drop UAB if football isn't reinstated

Commissioner Britton Banowsky said UAB would be dropped from Conference USA if its football program was not reinstated.

Conference bylaws state that all programs must have an FBS-level football program or be in the process of transitioning into one to maintain good conference standing.

"It's been clear that our folks aren't interested in changing our bylaws to permit members who don't have football," Banowsky told AL.com. "Relative to UAB and the possibility of them not starting it back, we appreciate how volatile conference membership change would be and have the interest of the coaches and student-athletes in mind when we consider a reasonable length of time for transition which would probably be one year."

UAB would be allowed to stay in the conference for the 2015-16 season, but then would need to find a new home for its remaining sports. C-USA won’t make a final decision on UAB until its conference presidents meet in Dallas on June 8.

That will be after UAB President Ray Watts is supposed to make his official and likely final decision on the fate of the UAB football program on June 1. Watts announced in December plans to eliminate football and two other sports from the UAB docket. The move was met with protests and since that time, former UAB players, boosters and other supporters have been scrambling to raise enough funds to reinstate the program.

Currently, Justin Craft, a former UAB player and the head of the UAB Football Foundation, said the group has raised more than $15 million through private donations.

It is unknown how much the program needs to stay afloat, but the UAB Undergraduate Student Government Association said the program would need upwards of $25 million for operational costs and facility upgrades.

For more UAB news, visit BlazerSportsReport.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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