No Motivation Needed for UAB As Blazers Enter Season’s Final Stretch
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - February 25, 2025
Motivational speeches shouldn’t be necessary for the UAB men’s basketball team during the final two weeks of the regular season.
“If you got to motivate now, bro, you got a bad group,” said UAB head coach Andy Kennedy. “You know, if I'm Knute Rockne now, man, I got a bad group. Something isn’t working.”
You don’t have to study the American Athletic Conference standings long to understand the significance of what’s ahead for a handful of teams in the top half of The American standings. First place Memphis (12-2 AAC) is the lone conference team who has clinched a double bye in the conference tournament but the Tigers still have work left to secure the regular season championship. UAB and North Texas, which are both 11-3 in conference play, sit a game behind Memphis. Tulane (9-5) and FAU (8-6) are still tussling for the top four spot, which comes with the double bye, while East Carolina (8-7) and red-hot Wichita State (7-7) are just behind those two.
UAB’s path over the final two weeks is probably the most difficult of the bunch. It begins on Thursday night at Wichita State, which has won six consecutive games, and continues on Sunday afternoon with a Bartow Arena visit from Memphis. The Tigers beat UAB, 100-77, in Memphis on Jan. 26. It should be the largest Bartow Arena crowd of the season on Sunday. UAB closes the regular season next week with a home game against FAU on March 6 and a trip to Tulane on March 9.
UAB is the lone team in the top seven that does not play a team outside of the top seven during the final two weeks of the season.
“Every game has a huge emphasis,” Kennedy said. “I think our guys understand that. We've just got to be disciplined and tough enough to stay the course.”
Here is a look at what the top seven AAC teams in the standings have left on their schedule:
Memphis: vs. Rice, at UAB, at UTSA, vs. USF
North Texas: at FAU, vs. Wichita State, vs. Charlotte, at Temple
UAB: at Wichita State, vs. Memphis, vs. FAU, at Tulane
Tulane: vs. Charlotte, at Tulsa, at ECU, vs. UAB
FAU: vs. North Texas, at USF, at UAB, vs. ECU
ECU: vs. Charlotte, vs. Tulane, at FAU
Wichita State: vs. UAB, at North Texas, at Rice, vs. Tulsa