A founding member of the original Big East Conference , the Eagles moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference on July 1 , 2005 . Up to that point , Boston College was the only Big East member affiliated with the Catholic Church that played football in the conference . As of 2018 , all the football-playing members of the Big East 's successor American Athletic Conference are secular or Protestant institutions , while nine of the non-football replacement Big East Conference 's ten members are Catholic
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Boston College Eagles