The Temple Owls football team participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subivision as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Temple is a football only affiliate of the MAC because their primary conference, the Atlantic Ten Conference, is a Division I Football Championship Subdivision football league. The Owls were a football-only member of the Big East Conference from 1991 until 2004 (they never became a full-time BE member due to objections from Villanova). Temple played the 2005 and 2006 seasons as an independent then joined the MAC in 2007.