Sources: Old Big East has new name By Brett McMurphy | ESPN The American Athletic Conference is the new name for the former Big East Conference, according to sources. The league is expected to formally announce the new name as early as Thursday. In the Big East's final season in its current makeup, the league is going out with a flourish. Louisville upset Florida in the AT&T Sugar Bowl, and five teams reached the men's and women's Final Fours, the most from one conference in NCAA history. Last month, sources told ESPN that commissioner Mike Aresco favored America 12 Conference as the league's new name. However, the schools' presidents rejected it because they didn't want a number included. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/s...named-american-athletic-conference?src=mobile
Big East Conference@BigEastConf46m For those asking, the conference intends to emphasize "The American" as its brand, not an acronym.
The newly named American Athletic Conference will begin its search for a site for men’s basketball tournament in Philadelphia. According to sources familiar with the process, representatives of the American will visit the historic Palestra in Philadelphia on Tuesday as a potential site of the men’s basketball tournament in March 2014. Other sites that will be considered are Hartford, Memphis and Tampa. American Athletic Association commissioner Mike Aresco is intrigued by the Palestra because of its historical significance as one of the storied venues in college basketball as not only the home court of the University of Pennsylvania, but as a long time site of Big 5 basketball–Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Villanova, LaSalle and Penn–in a prime basketball market.http://ajerseyguy.com/?p=6776
Casino bidding for AAC tourney HARTFORD, Conn. -- A tribal casino in Connecticut is bidding to host the men's and women's basketball tournaments for the new American Athletic Conference. Chris Sienko, vice president for the Mohegan Sun, which includes a 9,500-seat arena that is home to the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, said the resort is interested in hosting one or both tournaments. "We have no insight as to whether we'll be chosen or be a finalist," said Sienko, who also serves as general manager for the WNBA team. "We're just going through the same process that everyone else is going through to be vetted out by the AAC." Conference officials confirm the venue is in the running, but said the sites for each tournament will be chosen separately by the presidents and athletic directors of the member schools, with input from coaches. The topic will be discussed at the upcoming conference meetings, which begin May 20. http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...nning-american-athletic-conference-tournament
The NCAA Division One Board noted that the current Big East Conference would become the American Athletic Conference ("The American") on July 1, 2013, clearing the way for the new conference to adopt the Big East name. The American will retain the Big East's permanent seat on the Division I Board of Directors and their three votes. http://www.vuhoops.com/big-east/201...board-recognizes-new-big-east-as-a-conference The only conferences with permanent seats and 3 votes on the NCAA D1 Board are the 11 FBS conferences. The other 7 seats rotate. In any given year, 4 will go to FCS conferences, and the other 3 to D1 leagues that do not sponsor football. Those 7 leagues have 1.14 votes each.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE LOGOS each member school will be using the logo is their own school colors http://www.csnbbs.com/showthread.php?tid=634999 Website: http://theamerican.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConf Twitter: https://twitter.com/american_conf
Memphis’ FedExForum Will Host 2014 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship PROVIDENCE, R.I. – FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., one of the nation’s premier basketball venues, will be the site of the 2014 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship, Commissioner Mike Aresco announced. “We are very excited to have the first American Athletic Conference championship at FedExForum,” said Aresco. “We received significant interest from many outstanding venues. FedExForum is an outstanding facility and the Forum, the city of Memphis, the University of Memphis and the local community will combine to create a wonderful inaugural event that our teams, coaches, administrators and fans will embrace and enjoy.” The dates of the 2014 championship are March 12-15. Each game of the 10-team tournament will be televised on the ESPN networks. The championship game on Saturday, March 15, will be televised on ESPN. The tournament will begin with two first-round games on Wednesday, March 12. Two quarterfinal doubleheaders will be played on Thursday, March 13, followed by a semifinal doubleheader on Friday, March 14. Game times will be announced at a later date. FedExForum has a seating capacity of 18,400. It is located off historic Beale Street and its vibrant and popular entertainment district. http://www.bigeast.org/News/tabid/4...etball-Championship.aspx#sthash.VCUyaMlO.dpuf