The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System would likely support a push by UAB to join the American Athletic Conference, according to independent sources familiar with the governing body’s thinking.

The support of the UA Board of Trustees is an enormous step towards progress for a university system that is emerging as one of the healthiest in the country. A move to the AAC by UAB would put the UA System in position to have the top football programs among both the Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences.

Imagine a college-football postseason that features Alabama in the College Football Playoff and UAB playing in a New Year’s Six bowl game as the automatic Group of 5 qualifier. That scenario isn’t farfetched considering the rapid rise of UAB football since its return to the sport two years ago. It hasn’t lost at home since The Return, and won Conference USA last season.

The Big East is expected to announce in New York on Thursday the addition of the University of Connecticut. That move would give the AAC 11 member universities, and potentially create an open spot in the conference. A recent report by the Cincinnati Enquirer suggested that the AAC might not replace UConn with a football-playing member, but if the league chooses to add a new member, then UAB brings a strong résumé to the table.

Asked if the UA Board of Trustees would support a move by UAB to the AAC, one top-level university source said the Board would be “all in” in support of conference realignment. Another UA Board of Trustees insider said its appointed members, who govern the University of Alabama, UAB and UAH, would “for sure” support UAB in a bid to join the AAC.

Support by the UA Board of Trustees for UAB athletics was the subject of intense scrutiny during UAB’s decision to end football in 2014. For a move to the AAC to even be a possibility for UAB it would need support and behind-the-scenes backing from the UA Board of Trustees, which is one of the most powerful entities in the state.

Considering how contentious the saga over football became in 2015, detractors of the UA Board of Trustees will linger for years and naysayers of UAB athletics will persist as well. All the bluster aside, no one can dispute the massive growth of UAB’s undergraduate campus since the return of football.

With the support of the UA Board of Trustees, UAB has invested over $400 million in facilities over the last five years. UAB also recently completed a $1 billion fund-raising campaign. In addition to those enhancements, UAB was named the top young university in the country last year, and has partnered with the City of Birmingham, Jefferson County and others to build a new downtown football stadium.

The new downtown stadium will give UAB one of the most impressive and unique home fields among Group of 5 teams in the country.

UAB football was left behind in 2013 when its peer universities and traditional rivals moved from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. UAB athletics were then left for dead in 2014 when president Ray Watts made the difficult decision to shutter a football program that was hemorrhaging money, didn’t have the proper facilities or support to thrive and played at Legion Field, a cavernous tomb of a stadium.

Now a media darling with a movie-script worthy comeback story, UAB football has a new $23 million on-campus football complex, and a state-of-the-art football stadium scheduled for completion in 2021 located in ESPN’s top television market for college football. Coverage by ESPN has played a major role in the resurrection of UAB football, and that relationship could carry weight behind the scenes if the network wants a 12th team added to the AAC for contractual and content purposes.

In addition to the potential of UAB football, the university recently built one of the top on-campus soccer stadiums in the country (BBVA Field), and a new track-and-field complex. UAB was a university that didn’t properly support its athletics when it was passed over during conference realignment in 2013. That is no longer the case.

If reports are true, then UConn is moving back to the Big East to compete once again with its traditional basketball rivals. A move to the AAC would do the same for UAB and member schools in the league. Traditionally, Memphis is one of UAB’s top rivals, but the Blazers also shared conference basketball rivalries with Cincinnati and Houston. On the football field, UAB’s top CUSA rivals were Memphis, East Carolina, UCF, Houston and Tulane.

Support for UAB by Memphis to join the AAC could carry considerable weight, and allow both schools to rekindle their football rivalry. The Battle of the Bones, which features one of the best rivalry trophies in all of college football, hasn’t been played since 2012. The renewed non-conference basketball series between UAB and Memphis has benefited both universities in recent years. Memphis plays at UAB this season.

Since the return of UAB football, the university’s president (Dr. Watts), Birmingham and Jefferson County have played important roles in positioning UAB for the future. Now is the time to take the next step forward, and having the support of the UA Board of Trustees could make the difference.

Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He’s on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.