The American is trying its best not to be grouped with other minor conferences. Lets rule out the followingL

1. G5 Playoff
2 G5 Championship game

Also, the American is going advocate against playoff expansion until the other power conferences lead the way. Ideal situation for the American would be to get a larger TV deal and semi-major bowl game for its champion. Doing these things makes the American different than the other G5 league. The last part of the puzzle is expansion. I believe you can clearly become a Power 6 conference if you go west and gut the MWC and WCC. Add Boise State, SDSU, Colorado State, and UNLV for all sports. BYU and Gonzaga for all sports but football (assuming BYU still does to wants to stay indy in football).

Football:
West: SDSU, Boise State, Colorado, State, UNLV, Houston, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane
East: Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, Navy, Memphis, ECU, USF, UCF

Basketball and other Olympic sports:
West: SDSU, Boise State, Colorado State, UNLV, Gonzaga, BYU
Central: Houston, SMU, Wichita State, Tulsa, Memphis, Tulane
East: Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, UCF, USF, ECU

This group above would so far ahead of the other minor conferences that it would hard this league not have better bowl games, more TV money, and a boat load of NCAA tournament credits.