Kevin Foote column

As soon as the news, or rather speculation, broke over the weekend that the University of Alabama-Birmingham's football program was fighting for its life, you just knew eyebrows around Lafayette, as well as several other Sun Belt Conference cities, were raised.

AL.com, out of Birmingham, reported Monday that the decision was "a done deal" and that the official announcement would be coming as soon as Tuesday.

On Monday afternoon, "hundreds" of UAB students protested with signs on campus apparently in a "We Are Marshall" attempt to sway university leaders.

I would think that at least that many supporters in such Sun Belt towns as Lafayette; Mobile, Alabama; and Jonesboro, Arkansas, were wondering if indeed that news could possibly impact their schools in the near future.

Obviously if any Sun Belt school ends up filling UAB's spot in the Conference USA membership, then all the Sun Belt schools would be affected.

The question now is, could that replacement be the UL Ragin' Cajuns? Should it be? Is it even possible this go-around?

Honestly, any answers to such questions would be pure speculation at this point. No university official of a current Sun Belt school is going to offer up speculation on replacing a program that still currently exists.

That, however, won't stop those thoughts, or more accurately, dreams in the minds of some fans of the Cajuns or Arkansas State or South Alabama as the issue is being discussed.

In the big picture, just hearing of such talk is probably very exciting to some and quite scary to others. Just a few months ago, the news broke that Hawaii is headed in that direction as well.

Ironically, UAB's only bowl appearance was a 59-40 loss to Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl in 2004.

In today's economic climate and with the Power Five flexing their muscles at every turn, one has to wonder if Hawaii and UAB are the only programs walking the plank these days.

If that list would grow over the next few years, perhaps this opening — whether it's in Conference USA or another league — won't be the only opportunity for a program looking to move.

For the record, UAB's football program has only been around since 1991. After two years as a Division III independent and two as a 1-AA program, the Blazers began 1-A football in 1996. UAB has been a Conference USA member since 1999.

By 2000, it was beating Nick Saban and the LSU Tigers 13-10 in Baton Rouge.

In Ragin' Cajun circles, the school UAB actually means more in basketball. That's the school the Cajuns beat 74-72 with former UCLA coach Gene Bartow leading the way in the first round of the NIT in 1980 in UL's first postseason appearance after the death penalty.

In football, UAB was actually the first team Ricky Bustle defeated during his era here — 34-0 at Cajun Field in 2002.

The last time local Cajun fans with CUSA dreams got their hopes up, former Sun Belt members Western Kentucky, Florida International, Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic and North Texas bolted instead.

The reasons still don't make much sense to many UL supporters. Supposedly, FIU and FAU brought the Miami market. Supposedly, North Texas brought the Dallas market.

As bogus as that sounds to any fan who has traveled to those places following the Cajuns, money is money. It's all above my understanding.

So my first bits of advice to Cajun fans is don't get your hopes up just yet and don't try to be too logical when arguing UL's merits compared to other schools.

If past decisions remain the issue, it's not about attendance, it's not about success on the playing fields and it's not about relevance in the region.

It's seemingly about TV markets and facilities.

If football attendance mattered, UL would seemingly have a good argument. The Cajuns' average attendance of 25,775 would have ranked fourth in the 13-team CUSA this fall, trailing only Marshall (28,086), UTEP (28,377) and UTSA (27,576).

For the record, the worst four home attendances in CUSA this year were the old Sun Belt schools — MTSU (17,408), WKU (16,306), FAU (14,122) and FIU (11,966).

If success on the field mattered, UL would be attractive as well with recent successes in football, baseball, softball and men's basketball.

Geography? The Cajuns should be OK in that area as well, although one has to wonder if replacing UAB with South Alabama would be a more appealing option to CUSA to have a presence in Alabama?

Whether it happens or not, the truth is that there's never been a more exciting time in UL athletics than now. The university and the RCAF have certainly put their money where they mouths are and shown the outside world that they're serious about athletics.

All the facility upgrades that have already taken place and are in the works certainly prove that.

Part of me still wonders what the big attraction to Conference USA is.

I sort of get the prestige factor. I certainly get the increased number of bowl tie-ins.

Don't know if it's going to happen this time. Certainly feel like UL is a more attractive option than it was a few years ago. Wonder if it's all really worth the fight.