The Cincinnati Bearcats are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Cincinnati. Since July 1, 2005, the school's athletic teams have been members of the Big East Conference. They were previously members of Conference USA, a conference of which they were a founding member. The creation of Conference USA was the result of a merger between the Great Midwest Conference (of which Cincinnati was a member) and the Metro Conference (whom Cincinnati had previously been a member) in 1995.