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But even if the Blazers hadnt been undercut by their own trustees, they still would have had a tremendous hill to climb, one thats getting steeper every year as the gap between the haves and the have-nots of football continues to grow. UAB was in the vanguard of a recent trend of universities starting football programs from scratch with the plan to get to Division I as soon as possible, and reap the PR and financial benefits that come with a major football program. Nine other universities that are in or are about to join the Football Bowl Subdivision have started football programs since UAB did, and they share several commonalities. All of them are based in the South, and all of them felt they had a chance to succeed because of the prestige of the game and the fertile recruiting grounds in the region. But theyve found it incredibly expensive to field a competitive FBS program. They all have losing records against fellow FBS schools, and they all receive substantial subsidies in order to keep their athletic departments afloat. Theyve had trouble attracting supporters, perhaps because most football fans in the region are already loyal to other teams. And as the Big 5 power conferences start to crank up the financial pressure both with lavish spending on facilities and upcoming allowances for players its possible that some of these programs could join UAB on the sidelines. Read more: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-uabs-football-team-couldnt-even-last-20-years/