Alabama-Birmingham announced Tuesday that it would revive its football program, which it eliminated in a cost-cutting move late last year, and resume play as early as 2017.
When U.A.B. returns to the field, the Blazers will again be considered members of the Football Bowl Subdivision, college football’s top tier, and Conference USA, the university said.
Riflery and bowling, two other varsity sports eliminated in the same cost-cutting moves, also will return. The riflery team, a women’s program when it was eliminated, will be coed.
In December, the U.A.B. president, Ray L. Watts, announced that the 2014 season would be the last for the Blazers’ football team, citing “the rapidly evolving N.