Ordinary American university next to Alabama (5)
I believe the answer is:
usual
'ordinary' is the definition.
('usual' can be similar in meaning to 'ordinary')
'american university next to alabama' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'us'.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'next to' says to put letters next to each other.
'alabama' becomes 'al'.
'us'+'u'+'al'='USUAL'
(Other definitions for usual that I've seen before include "Customary, routine" , "Normally done" , "Ordinary" , "In accordance with regular practice" , "Standard" .)