East Carolina joined Conference USA ( C-USA ) in 1997 as an affiliate member for football only until the 2001 season as the school moved up to full membership . When three teams from the Big East Conference moved to the ACC , the Big East looked for new members for their conference and invited five schools from C-USA to join their conference . Then C-USA added six other teams , including Marshall from the Mid-American Conference . The six new teams brought C-USA to twelve teams in which the conference can split into divisions and host a Conference USA Football Championship Game . East Carolina and Marshall were placed in the " East " division and played annually since then
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry