RE: The AAC should rebrand as the Big American Conference
IMO, I think it was a major branding and identity mistake for what the (then) Big East Football Conference decided on for a league name (the American). Obviously, 2012-2013 was a very uncertain and chaotic time for college athletics with realignment, so the conference's leadership (Aresco/Presidents/ADs) didn't want to back itself into a corner that would have established a number in its name, or even a location. Compounding the issue was the presence of UConn, the lone public flagship and land-grant institution in the league, which shared little-to-no history with the rest of the membership. However, the most confusing aspect of the AAC branding was in the goals and objectives that the members sought-out after the separation; it wanted to be viewed and treated as a power conference, it wanted to eliminate the associations it has with prior conference affiliations, and it wanted to maintain (and elevate) the status that Big East Football had from 2005-2012.
In choosing the AAC identity, it selected a brand that was incredibly similar to C-USA (where nearly all of its members were pulled from, and was clearly not viewed as a power conference), it chose the exact same colors (Red, White and Blue), and it picked a generic name that did not identify with a region or area of the country (to protect itself if it truly became a national conference). Seven years later, the AAC did not get Boise State, Air Force, BYU, San Diego State, Army or Colorado State, it has lost UConn, and - perhaps for the better - has a more analogous membership than it has had before.
If it were up to me, I would have the AAC grab UAB as #12 (all sports), then extend invitations to VCU (#13, non-football) and Saint Louis (#14, non-football), and change the league's name to the American Metro Conference. It better identifies with a collection of schools and teams, and the league would not be under long-term threat of expansion to potentially raid its membership. I believe Louisville owns the rights to the "Metro" name, but I'm not sure if that would be close enough to warrant purchasing it from them.
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