Samford University and University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have announced a two-game football series and three-game men’s basketball series. The two schools made the announcement simultaneously across various media platforms.
The basketball announcement came first on Nov. 5. The first game will be played in the 2026-27 season at Bartow Arena on UAB’s campus. The second game will take place the following season in the Pete Hanna Center before closing out the series with one more game at UAB in 2028.
A week later, the two schools made the football announcement for two games over the next two years to be played in Protective Stadium.
Despite sharing a city, Samford has a limited history playing UAB in both sports. The two met only once in football. Samford won the game 49-3 at home in 1992. At the time, the Blazers were still an NCAA Division III school as it was only the second year since the program’s founding.
Basketball series history is similarly sparse. A three-game series took place between 1980-1982; all being played at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. The programs did not meet again until a round robin tournament hosted in Kent, Ohio pitted the two teams against each other. Samford was unable to beat UAB in any of those matchups.
“It is important for the city,” said Taylor Holmberg, the director of athletic communication at UAB. “A lot of people in town have been talking about scheduling for a while and the two main sports, and we finally got it done.”
Samford students are eager for a cross-town rivalry.
“Excited to show them who runs Birmingham,” said Luke Allison, a Samford freshman.
For many, this matchup has been a long time coming. Holmberg admitted that this has been in the talks for a long time, especially since the shared March Madness appearances in 2023.
“The ins and outs of scheduling, it’s really difficult,” said Holmberg. “A lot of people that are outside of athletics don’t really get it, especially just fans. It’s hard because you got to have the right date, the right time, the right travel; and then, of course, money comes into perspective.”
Many other sports, including baseball, women’s basketball, volleyball and soccer have been able to maintain a lot more consistent rivalry against the Blazers.
Samford will match up against UAB in football Oct. 3, 2026. The date for the first basketball game has not yet been announced.
