In response to losing three football programs , the Big East Conference extended invitations to five schools from Conference USA in order to replenish their football ranks and to create a 16-team basketball superconference . The schools that left Conference USA on July 1 , 2005 for the Big East are : The fallout from the Conference USA realignment instigated a chain reaction of conference realignments that affected the WAC , MAC , Sun Belt , Mountain West , and Atlantic 10 Conferences . At the same time , the UConn Huskies completed their leap to Division I-A football and became a full member of the conference in 2004 , resulting in their first-ever bowl bid
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
2005 NCAA conference realignment