The college football rivalry between the University of Connecticut and the University of Rhode Island dates back to the 1890s and was born largely out of proximity, with the schools being less than 60 miles apart. The schools competed in all sports for decades as members of the Yankee Conference. Even though UConn became a charter member of the Big East in 1979, the schools continued to compete in football at the I-AA level as members of the Atlantic 10. The yearly games ended after UConn left the A-10 to move to I-A football in 2000.