I must be the exception to the rule. I'm *not* 100% on upgrades this year, and the ones that haven't cleared have been JFK-LAX (or LAX-JFK). And they stopped clearing right around the same time as the status match. And that's the route that I travel most.
For me, the upgrade matters most because I need the leg room. Once AA has a premium economy product in place, I'll be fine if my upgrades don't clear at 100%. Until then, better seat pitch on other airlines is almost (almost) enough to entice me to move at least some of my business to another airline after I re-qualify.