College football has swallowed up one of its own.

In the world where bigger has meant better, another little guy has been gobbled up, eaten whole by a game that has changed through money and television.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham, a football program since 1991 and in the game’s top level since 1996, was pronounced dead by school officials Wednesday.

It wasn’t for the lack of winning, since at 6-6 this is only the second time in the program’s history it is eligible for a bowl game.

This appears to be all about money. Bottom line has once again out weighted the goal line.

UAB officials said they want to spend the money that was going to football on other sports. That sounds great but leaves football players searching for new schools and coaches for new jobs.

The message being sent is clear: college football is a business. Forget calling players student-athletes, they are the work force.

And the playbook isn’t bigger than the ledger.

It would be easy to say the Power Five conferences have something to do with this, but most indications are that the dismantling of the UAB football program was more of an inside job.

This is Alabama sports politics at its best, but there will be a trickle-down effect to all this.

UAB was — and for other sports remains — a part of Conference USA. It is hard to imagine a league that big and with even larger aspirations keeping a school without football.

That could mean more musical chairs when a spot opens. Louisiana-Lafayette would seem to be the perfect candidate for such a move.

No school outside the Power Five is hotter than ULL, with four consecutive trips to bowl games, a spot in the NCAA men’s basketball tourney last year and a baseball team that hosted a super regional after being ranked No. 1 for a good portion of last season.

The Ragin’ Cajuns would be a good get, that is unless Louisiana Tech decided it didn’t want a new kid on its block. Tech is also a member of Conference USA, and we know when it comes to Louisiana, schools don’t always play nice with each other.

Just look at the fight over who can or wants to be called the University of Louisiana.

However, if ULL left for the larger league, the Sun Belt would have an opening.

There have been more than a few folks from the Southland Conference who have moved into the Sun Belt over the years. It would seem to make sense for that to happen again.

While it doesn’t seem likely McNeese State is ready for such a move, others like Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin and even Lamar might be willing to try.

At this time of year many folks have eyes bigger than their stomachs.

What we do know is this: In each of the last three springs and summers there has been a scrambling of teams to new conferences, with everybody trying to position themselves for an unknown future.

What is troubling for schools outside the big division is that UAB officials didn’t even consider having their school move down a level and play in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Southland might have been a good fit for the Blazers, but we will never know.

That means they didn’t think the division was financially worth it. That is tough when you instead get Houston Baptist and Incarnate Word.

Of course, nobody knows how this will all shake out or just who will be sitting in what chair when the music finally does stop.

One thing we do know is that UAB’s football program is not the last domino to fall in this game.

Not even close.

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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@americanpress.com(Associated Press)

MARK ALMOND