I understand. It's more fun to play schools that your friends and relatives attended. Every UConn fan knows someone who went to Syracuse or Rutgers. Very few know someone who went to SMU or Houston.
On the bright side, the quality of football is not a big drop (if any) from the Big East. Houston, UCF, and Memphis are decent teams. In the last couple years, they've beaten BYU, Pitt, and Baylor in bowl games.
Bottom line: UConn fans want to say it sucks losing local rivals, they're 1,000% correct. But if they want to say these AAC schools are no different than the MAC or Sunbelt, they're delusional.