UAB beats Iowa State

UAB Blazers bench reacts against the Iowa State Cyclones during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. (Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY, via Reuters)

No. 14 seed UAB's victory over three-seed Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament was the biggest seeding upset in the school's history, and has drawn a lot of attention in the Birmingham area. There is no doubt that tons of non-alums (including this author) will be tuned in Saturday morning to the Blazers' 2nd-round matchup with the UCLA Bruins (11:10 a.m. on CBS).

But because no one likes a bandwagon fan, we thought we'd do a little reporting on the subject to give folks a leg up come tipoff.

We asked some Blazers fans what they thought those Bandwagon Blazers would need to know about UAB's basketball program before Saturday's matchup, and here's what they told us.

1) There's some great history here with UAB's first and greatest basketball coach

File Photo 1977 Gene Bartow introduced as new coach at UAB. Photo by Tom Self

Gene Bartow coached UAB's basketball team from 1978 through 1996, leading the team to nine NCAA Tournament appearances. Bartow is the namesake of UAB basketball's home, Bartow Arena.

But he also has a connection to UCLA.

Bartow coached UCLA for two seasons - the 1975-1976 and 1976-1977 seasons -- and went an impressive 52-9. He succeeded legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA. He left after the '77-'78 season to start UAB's basketball program and serve as the college's athletics director.

Bartow, who died in 2012, also started the UAB football program, which even a Bandwagon Blazer knows was shut down in December. Continued success in the tournament could mean a lot to Bartow fans.

Connection to UCLA RT @theangrykatie: @MadisonU who Gene Bartow is. -- Jay Haywood (@jayhaywood) March 20, 2015

@MadisonU @BlazerTalk We are a family not a fanbase. We are all about the B not the A. Bartow is the greatest ever. Ethics matter. -- LoneBlazer (@theLoneBlazer) March 20, 2015

2) And some more recent history - UAB and UCLA have played this season

UCLA and UAB met in November at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, and the Bruins trounced the Blazers 88-76.

But, as AL.com sports columnist Kevin Scarbinsky notes, "that was a world away, especially for the baby Blazers."

"They've since become grown men," Scarbinsky wrote Thursday.

He wrote as much Tuesday when he predicted that UAB could knock off Iowa St.:

"But there's something about this UAB team the experts and analysts can't understand and won't spend much time trying. This team may have been beaten up early, but that 4-9 non-conference record helped it grow up. That August exhibition trip to Spain, that November tournament in the Bahamas to play Wisconsin, Florida and UCLA, that home game against LSU and that road game at North Carolina all were part of the growing pains of developing a young team."

According to Scarbinsky, UAB "wasn't ready to handle that level of competition in November and December, but look at the baby Blazers now. Since the calendar flipped to 2015, they're 15-6."

3) Look at this beard.

UAB Basketball Strength Coach Cory Schlesinger's magnificent face warmer has drawn fans on Twitter and on my Facebook.

Even SBNation praised Schlesinger's beard.



@MadisonU You need to dig up the scoop on Cory Schlesinger's majestic beard. -- bhamwiki (@bhamwiki) March 20, 2015

Reached by e-mail today, Schlesinger said the beard "is a part of the team and season."

"It first started as a funny, curled mustache for our team trip to Spain this past summer," Schlesinger told AL.com. "I wasn't able to shave for a week overseas and when the team landed back in the states I received a few compliments and support from coworkers and friends. The rest is history."

"I am extremely fortunate to work with an open-minded, fun, and accepting coach (Jerod Haase)," Schlesinger continued. "He said, 'as long as I did my job to the best of my ability he didn't care what was on my face.' In a weird way, that gave me a ton of confidence in my role with the team."

4) UAB is the third-youngest team in the tournament

No one on UAB's team has been to the Big Dance before.

According to the Associated Press, UAB is the third-youngest team in the tournament.

This is UAB's 15th NCAA Tournament appearance. UAB hasn't been to the tournament since 2011, and they haven't won a tournament game since 2005.

@MadisonU UAB ranked #29 nationally in all time winning % http://t.co/MyjzMsTla6 Remarkable for such a young program. UA and AU not top 50 -- Paul D. Ensign (@pensign) March 20, 2015

5) There's a reason UAB's players are wearing mismatched shoes

As AL.com's Nick Birdsong wrote in November, the mismatched shoes are meant to raise awareness for kids with cancer:

" The Blazers have partnered with the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's of Alabama. Sporting one green and one white sneaker this season is their way of helping raise awareness and, hopefully, money for pediatric cancer. "

"'We played a team over in Spain (this past summer) and one of the players came out, wearing a black and white shoe and everybody just noticed it,' [UAB Coach Jerod] Haase said. 'So we started talking and kind of joking about that and one idea led to another idea about 27 ideas later this is the one we came up with.'"

UAB men's hoops partners with Committed to a Cure 4 Gallery: UAB men's hoops partners with Committed to a Cure

6) Some primer on UCLA

AL.com reporter Nick Birdsong compiled a list of 6 things you ought to know about UCLA ahead of today's game.

7) Blaze the Dragon is not UAB's first mascot

Oh, no. The Blazers have been represented by a number of different creatures, according to Bhamwiki.com. UAB started out with a ridiculous looking pink version of Blaze in the 1978 season. The pink thing was quickly replaced with Beauregard T. Rooster, who served as the plush face of UAB athletics until 1992, when Blaze the Viking got the job a season.

The Blaze we know and love came around in 1996.

@MadisonU Before their mascot was a dragon, it was a rooster and then a viking. http://t.co/7B2Q3NHkEl -- Kate Harris (@kwlamar) March 20, 2015



8) Blaze is a winner, at least in the mascot deathbracket

The UAB mascot would win it all if the NCAA Tournament bracket was actually a deatchmatch bracket between mascots, according to an analysis of this year's bracket by SBNation.