After Syracuse, Pitt, and West Virgnia departed the Big East, and the Big East tried to assemble something resembling a BCS-level football conference from what it could get, the resulting hodgepodge (which at one point was set to include San Diego State and Boise State – who would have been in the Big East and Big West at the same time!) was dubbed the Conference USA All-Stars Featuring Rutgers as virtually all of the conference's full members had been part of CUSA at one time (except Rutgers, UConn, and Temple). Rutgers has since joined the Big Ten, Louisville moved to the ACC, SDSU and Boise State decided to remain in the Mountain West, and the non-football members of the Big East decided to leave for a new conference, taking their name with them. The remaining 3 football-playing members of the Big East plus their new associates formally dubbed their conference the American Athletic Conference, but it has become known as the Ack or the Conference USA All-Stars featuring UConn (since Rutgers has departed).
Its membership is
| East division | West division |
|---|---|
| UConn | Houston |
| Temple | SMU |
| Central Florida | Memphis |
| South Florida | Navy (football only) |
| East Carolina | Tulsa |
| Cincinnati | Tulane |