UAB will make its return to the gridiron against Alabama A&M, the school formally announced Thursday.

UAB will host Alabama A&M and Coastal Carolina in 2017 and will travel to Florida and Ball State. That's the non-conference portion of the first year back for UAB football since it originally dropped football after the 2014 season and reinstated it six months later.

UAB will host Alabama A&M on Sept. 2, 2017 and travel to Ball State on Sept. 9, 2017. This contract calls for just one game at Ball State.

The Blazers host Coastal Carolina on Sept. 16 as part of a home-and-home series, and will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Sept. 15, 2018.

UAB's game at Florida will be on Nov. 18, 2017.

UAB's eight Conference USA games - four home and four away - will be announced at a later date, but UAB will be in the West with Southern Miss, UTSA, North Texas, Rice, Louisiana Tech and UTEP.

UAB tentatively plans to begin spring practice this year on Feb. 15, head coach Bill Clark said earlier this week.

"The UAB Football program continues to make great progress towards its return to the field in 2017, and the announcement of our highly competitive non-conference schedule is another milestone in this process," UAB athletics director Mark Ingram said in a release.

"We look forward to exciting and entertaining games against top notch programs and appreciate the cooperation from the administrations and coaches at Alabama A&M, Coastal Carolina, Ball State and Florida in working with us to create a mutually beneficial scheduling agreement."