 The school's football team then joined the conference of its other sport teams, the Big East (later named the American Athletic Conference (the American) in 2013), taking effect in 2004, through 2019.In 2019, UConn announced that the football team would be leave the American to again play as an independent, as the school's future conference, the current Big East, does not sponsor the sport.The University of Connecticut began playing football in 1896 when the school was known as Storrs Agricultural College, and the team was known as the "Aggies."