North Carolina vs UAB Basketball

UAB Coach Jerod Haase and players celebrate late in the 63-59 victory over North Carolina at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. (Mark Almond/malmond@al.com) ORG XMIT: ;ADPubFK=2013120119573210-2028097-_AL49596;

(MARK ALMOND)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - UAB and the city of Birmingham will host the 2015 Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament.

Conference USA announced the move around 12:30 p.m. UAB put in a bid to host along with Louisiana Tech (in Bossier City, La.), Southern Miss (on campus and in Biloxi) and UTEP. The tournament will be held from March 11-14, 2015.

The Conference USA Board of Directors will vote to approve the tournament location in Dallas on June 9.

Logistically, Birmingham held a strong arrangement for travel. Charlotte, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky can make the trip in six hours or less. Several others have nonstop flights.

"My comments to the athletic directors as a summary of our presentation was the positiveness of the city of Birmingham, the experience of hosting events, location of Birmingham and the access to our airport," UAB athletic director Brian Mackin said. "Add in facilities and the fact that geographically, six of our Conference USA teams (including UAB) would be able to drive to our event and our fans would come, which would increase the student-athlete experience."

The men's tournament will be played at BJCC Arena. The women will play theirs at Bartow Arena until the semifinal round and from there, all games will be played at BJCC Arena. The Conference USA Tournament headquarters will be at the Westin Birmingham and the Sheraton Birmingham will also play a major role.

UAB and the city also showcased the Greater Birmingham Entertainment District in the presentation.

"This is a massive step for our program," UAB men's basketball coach Jerod Haase said. "To be honest, I think it's good for Conference USA with the history UAB has of hosting tournaments (last in 1999).

"I know the city will welcome the teams and do a great job. It's a huge step for us and we're excited for our program to be able to host the Conference USA Tournament."

Mackin said that senior associate athletic director Shannon James Ealy along with Matt Beard of the Weston/Sheraton and David Galbaugh from the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau assisted in the presentation to athletic directors.

"We are very excited to be able to showcase our basketball teams in Birmingham, they will be tremendous hosts," Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky said. "We also were excited to learn about the great opportunities our other communities represent, each did a great job with the proposals and we have wonderful options for 2016 and beyond."