Report: Presidents considering ‘America 12′ as name for new conference

Mar 7, 2013, 4:00 PM EDT

With the splitting of the Big East Conference reportedly on the horizon, the football-playing members led by holdovers Cincinnati, Connecticut and South Florida need to come up with a name for their league.

And according to a tweet from Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com there may be a favored name for the group.

"America 12 Conference" favorite to become new name for Big East, league sources told @espn. Not official; other names being considered—
Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) March 07, 2013

America 12? While there is the enticing “Team America: World Police” possibility (no profanity here, of course) that name sounds silly. From a geographical standpoint going with “America” isn’t all that bad, unless they somehow end up debating the possibility of adding Division II member Simon Fraser University to the conference.

The big issue is the use of a number, because as we’ve seen in realignment membership can be a fluid situation with the notable exception of a league such as the Big Ten or SEC. Those conferences aren’t losing members, and in the case of the Big Ten the league has built up an incredible amount of brand equity with that name.

That clearly won’t be the case for this group, which will begin the 2013-14 academic year with ten members (Louisville and Rutgers hang around for one more year before leaving for the ACC and Big Ten, respectively). East Carolina (football-only) and Tulane replace those two in 2014, and Navy (football-only) will join along with a 12th school (to be determined, although various reports have Tulsa as the favorite) in 2015.

So while 12 members may be the goal it hasn’t happened yet, and it isn’t as if a Cincinnati or Connecticut (or another school) would stick around if offered membership to a more prestigious conference. So stay away from the numbers when deciding on a name for the new league, especially when there’s another option that would be more suitable.

The Metro Conference name is another possibility being debated, and when 2014 rolls around the conference will be home to three schools that were charter members of the first Metro Conference. And with the majority of the programs being located in metropolitan areas (UConn, which is located in Storrs, being one exception) using the Metro Conference name would definitely fit.

Regardless of the name the presidents ultimately choose, there’s no need to rush the process. They aren’t going to come up with a “name brand” that will immediately result in national respect, and with a new television deal already completed the name isn’t going to boost those financial numbers either.

So consider all the available options, and if the Metro Conference name isn’t appealing hopefully the presidents do not come up with a name that includes the use of a number.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.