UAB football officially announced its return in July 2015, and was set to take the field again in 2017. Now, as of Jan. 2016, the Blazers officially have a schedule set for the 2017 season. Blazers head coach Bill Clark and UAB athletic director Mark Ingram announced the schedule on Thursday.
UAB will open the 2017 season at home on Sept. 2 against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs of the FCS. The following week on Sept. 9, the UAB Blazers will take on the Ball State Cardinals on the road, the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
UAB then goes back home on Sept. 16, where they will host Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. CCU will be playing its inaugural season in the Sun Belt Conference for 2017.
The Blazers and Chanticleers will also meet the following season in the second game of a home-and-home series. CCU will host UAB at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina on Sept. 15, 2018.
UAB's final non-conference game of the 2017 season is a trip to Gainesville to take on Jim McElwain and the Florida Gators on Nov. 18. The Blazers are 0-2 all-time against the Gators, losing in 2002 and then again in 2011. UAB will play a full FBS schedule in 2017 and that they will be eligible to play in a post-season bowl game.
UAB will also play in the C-USA West Division with Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Rice, Southern Miss, UTEP, and UTSA during 2017.
