City: Birmingham, AL

Category: Spectator Sports

Description: Right from the start in 1978, UAB basketball set a course for excellence that it has yet to depart. UAB first made waves in the late 1970s by luring John Wooden successor and two-time NCAA Final Four head coach Gene Bartow away from UCLA to build the infant UAB basketball program. Within three years the Blazers were the darlings of the 1981 NCAA tournament where they defeated powerhouse Kentucky before bowing out to eventual National Champion Indiana in the Sweet Sixteen. The following season, much to the dismay of critics who denounced UAB’s previous post-season run as a fluke, the Blazers advanced even further in the NCAA tournament. The fourth-seeded UAB Blazers avenged their loss to Indiana by defeating the defending National Champions in the second round and followed that victory by upsetting the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers before eventually being eliminated by Louisville in the Elite Eight. Bartow would lead the Blazers to another seven NCAA tournament appearances before retiring in 1996. His son, Murry Bartow, was tapped as his successor but would prove unable to match the level of accomplishment achieved by his father. In 2002 UAB hired Arkansas assistant and Birmingham native Mike Anderson to lead the program. By Anderson’s second season, the Blazers were back in the NCAA tournament where they would once again surprise the college basketball world by upsetting top-seeded Kentucky. Following two more successful seasons, marked by appearances in the NCAA tournament, at the helm of UAB, Anderson would leave for the University of Missouri. In 2006 the Blazers hired Fayette, Alabama, native and former University of Alabama star Mike Davis as the basketball program’s fourth head coach. The Davis era at UAB began with optimism, but despite winning over 20 games in each of the last three seasons, the Blazers have been unable to return to the NCAA tournament. Fans, however, remain hopeful that UAB will regain the status that the program held under Bartow and Anderson. Individual tickets range from $12 to $20 and season tickets start at $215. Discount packages are also available.