The American Athletic Conference ushers in a new era, a new name, and a new mascot. Here’s everything from the debut of the American Conference.
American Conference News
A Rebrand
On July 21st, the American Athletic Conference announced a plethora of changes, but none more significant than the changing of its name. Now it is called the American Conference, a conference “Built to Rise.” Along with the new name, they introduced their official mascot/ambassador, “Soar,” the eagle. The conference rebrands for the first time in its 12-year history.
A New Number-One Quarterback in the Conference
A few hours after the conference announced its new identity, Tulane announced its new quarterback. Former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff becomes the number-one guy at Tulane and the number-one guy in the conference.
Retzlaff, the starter for BYU last year, came under fire after being accused of rape in 2023. Only three weeks ago, this case was dismissed, but due to BYU’s honor code, Retzlaff would be suspended on June 29th. Ultimately, he declared for the portal, but due to the portal’s being closed, he instead dropped out. Now with today’s news, Retzlaff will walk on to the Tulane football team. He will compete with former Northwestern and Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan and former Ball State quarterback Kadin Semonza. Tulane opens against Northwestern on August 30th.
A Member Tries to Leave
Lastly, the biggest news of the day in the conference and all of college football would occur hours after Retzlaff’s announcement. It was reported that Memphis offered a 200 million dollar deal to join the Big 12. This offer would be rejected by the Big 12.
Now, Big 12 teams make approximately 31 million dollars a year on their media rights deal alone. As for the American, each team makes approximately seven million a year. In the case of Memphis, they had planned to pay for a spot with their donor money from FedEx. Just last summer, SMU did the exact same thing with ACC, where they paid a hundred million dollars to join Stanford and Cal. It wouldn’t be surprising if Memphis tried again with the ACC, but with their league already at 17 members plus Notre Dame, making 18, it’s unlikely Memphis would be accepted.
As for the Big 12, they are at 16 teams making Memphis’ pitch understandable. Last year, the Big 12 was interested in UConn at one point but later dismissed the idea of adding the Huskies. The Tigers could join the PAC 12, but each team is likely to receive seven to ten million dollars a year in their new media deal with CBS, which is just barely more than Memphis makes with the American. A very interesting story that will continue to unfold, especially within the coming years.
A zany debut for a conference that celebrates its 12-year history, makes more waves in just one day than it had all offseason. The American Conference will hold its Media Days this Thursday and Friday, July 24th and July 25th. Stay tuned for more college football offseason news.
Main Image: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
