REPORT: Former Big East Is Renamed American Athletic Conference
By Kyle Kensing
Mar 14, 2013; New York, NY, USA; A fan holds up a sign concerning the future of the Big East Conference before the start of a quarterfinal game between the Louisville Cardinals and the Villanova Wildcats during the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy reports that the former Big East is renamed American Athletic Conference, or AAC.
American Athletic Conference is new name for former Big East, sources told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) April 3, 2013
Conference commissioner Mike Aresco appeared on The Tim Brando Show last month amid rumors the league was adding Tulsa and East Carolina across all sports. Areseco said a new name would be announced this month.
With Tulsa now en tow, the former Big East begins its rebranding.
Other possibilities floated included American Metro Conference, a moniker that harks to the defunct Metro Conference. It was also a fitting suggestion, considering five of the league’s members were affiliated with the Metro before its closure in 1995: East Carolina, Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulane and Temple.
The non-football-playing, private universities breaking away from the current incarnation of the Big East will retain the league’s title.
The alphabet soup of conference realignment now has an AAC, an ACC and a CAA. It all feels a bit like pro wrestling’s territorial days of the 1980s when there was AWA, CWA, NWA, UWF and WWF.
*sigh* Can we start the movement to refer to the new league simply as the American or AmAth?
UPDATE: It appears the conference is indeed playing on branding itself sans acronym:
For those asking, the conference intends to emphasize "The American" as its brand, not an acronym.
— The American (@American_Conf) April 3, 2013