Sorry, I'm reposting what I put on the Big Ten expansion thread, since I'm really interested in getting a response:

Can you have your cake and eat it, too? Maybe.

A circus big top is really a big tent. Big Tent. BIG TENT. How would that work as the new name for a 12-team Big Ten Conference?

Think of the Big Tent as the umbrella organization that covers all 12 schools. It's logo could be a highly stylized circus big top tent with the stripes on the roof representing each of the schools, with stripes of each school's colors.

So the conference name basically stays the same (with the addition of one letter and the conference name is no longer tied to a number. Any other name will alter the conference's identity far more so than this rather inevasive name change.

Thoughts?

I'm sure the league will take the opportunity to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on a consulting group to use it's knowledge of the ever-shallow American marketing machine ("Accenture = Accent the Future. Isn't that clever of us?" ) to build a brand.

That means you can throw out any regional phrases (Midwest, Great Lakes, etc.). "You guys are a national group, not regional!"

Pretending to care about history, they may try to keep the word "Big." But maybe not.

After wasting a lot of time, they'll come up with one of two names:

Big American ("BAC up! We're comin'!" )
American 12 ("A-12 is fine, no one knows who the A-10 are anyway." )

"Hey! The public may be dumb enough to think All-Big-American is the same as All-American, so they'll think every great pro player came from you guys!"

bigdz, Since you asked…

When I think of the “Big Tent”, I get an imagine of the circus -- Ringling Brothers, Big Apple, Cirque Du Soleil (Grand Chapiteau). Among other things, I picture clowns, carnies, mimes, scam artists, the tattooed and bearded ladies (freak show), midgets, acrobats, cotton candy, elephants (taking a dump), lions, tigers, and bears (oh my). I believe we would be opening ourselves up for a lot of jokes and non-flattering associations…

Delany would be the ringmaster. The coaches would be the clowns. The referees would be the carnies… Not something I would be in favor of, but perhaps I just am not seeing the positives.

I do see an association to the Lions and Wildcats mascot names. And perhaps I see a loose association with the Wolverines, Badgers, Hawkeyes, and Gophers mascot names. What about the Buckeyes, Illini, Spartans, Boilermakers, and Hoosiers?

I do like your idea about incorporating the teams’ colors in the logo.

Why change the name from Big Ten? It could still be at 12 team Big Ten.......

Ugh! If there is anything I hate, it is any team (or conference in this case) pawning itself off as "America's Team". I have a seriously undying hate for the Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Braves. Please, Please, Please Big Ten...Don't go that route. :)

I STILL.....like the name.....

BIGGER TEN!!!!!


Realistically, I don't they'll change. With the Big 12 in existence as another "Big" conference.....the name "Big 12" is taken. I think anything else sounds ridiculous and the big 10 will not want to be disassociated with its tradition. The Southern Conf. did not "become" the SEC. The SEC was a new conference, which later built it's own reputation. There is too much reputation and tradition to call the Big 10 by any other name.

GLC or GLAC

If they want to keep the "Big", they can call it the Big Lakes Conference. I think putting numbers in conference names is predetermining an unstable image every time you make additions / subtractions. The SEC and ACC still stay the same with recent additions, so ditch the numbers -- especially with such a generic descriptor "Big". Besides, having an 11-team conference, with 10 teams, called the "Big 10" means one of your teams is not so big I guess. It's like "Big 10, plus that one other team that's tagging along with us"

The Big North works or how about " THE TWELVE"

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The Bear may be dead but he still hates Tennessee. Roll Damn Tide

I like "The Bigger Twelve" or "The Best d**n Conference." ;D

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They need to add 3 schools, ND, Rutgers and Missouri. They can't be the Big 14 since the Big 12 has that trademark protected, but they really could be the Big 10 (states that is)-Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio state, Pennsylvania state and with Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey-New Jersey makes 10.

Or they could just add Rutgers and add New Jersey and New York to their logo.