Editor’s note: Part of a continuing series examining the Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2019 college football season.



So this is what the mountaintop is like.



During a visit to UAB’s practice facility, head coach Bill Clark is quick to point to where the Blazers used to practice on a muddy, slanted field. In the years since the program’s self-imposed shutdown in December 2014 and reinstatement months later, a state-of-the-art operations building was constructed. The tiny old building remains at the back end of a practice field, filled with dust and folding chairs. An artificial turf field under a gazebo is the new standard after tens of millions of dollars were raised, with more to come.



Going 8-5 in the program’s first season back in 2017 was a Cinderella story. In 2018, Cinderella took off that slipper en route to the program’s first Conference USA championship and an 11-3 season.



The practice facilities...