So the mull the name change for many weeks (only to settle on the obvious, conservative choice), have a big media blitz for their coming out party, in New York no less, present their new logo, and they couldn't manage to change the second digit on it from a 0 to a 2? Oy yoy yoy.
The question that intrigues me is what "name change" (if any) will be Big 10 make:
a) None. The current name is historic and the conference's arithmetic has been incorrect for years, so why worry aboth mathematical accuracy?
b) Big 12. Overly suggestive of a major rival, with obvious legal/copyright issues.
Any other ideas?
If they opt not to remain the "Big 10" . . . how about the "Heartland Conference?"
They should just go ahead and change it to the PAC Dozen and get sponsored by Dunkin Donuts.
The Big Ten should remain the Big Ten. In the US it is a brand name on a par with Ford, IBM, and Chevrolet and ahead of almost any other brand, like Ivy League, SEC, Campbell's, or Chrysler. The brand connotes tradition, the heights of public education (with apologies to Berkeley), the economic power and population of the U.S. Middle West, and decades of strength in football and other college sports.
Why the heck would the schools give up the source of the conference's greatest value? To please the math and philosophy departments at member schools? Puh-leeze! Besides, there is always the dodecimal numbering system (base 12).
And, regardless of what the Big Ten does, forget about the Big 12 taking its name. That would be a disaster, and I am sure that the intellectual property attorneys of the Big Ten have taken steps to ensure that the name is reserved for the conference forever, whether it is used explicitly or not.
sagegrouse