The CAAC was created in 2003, consisting of 21 schools coming from the now defunct leagues of the Capital Area Conference, the Capital Circuit League, the Ingham County League, and the Mid-Michigan Athletic Conference. From 2003 to 2007 the conference was made up of three divisions (I, II, III): Division I was made up of eight schools, Division II was made up of seven schools, and Division III was made up of six schools. At the start of the 2007–08 school year, the league switched from Roman numeral-based divisions, to color-based divisions (Blue, Gold, Red, and White), due to new schools joining the league. The 2012–13 season was when the league reached its peak number of schools in the league; the league consisted of 27 schools with the same Blue, Gold, Red, White Divisions. After two years of competition of 27 schools, the league went through major re-alignment after seven schools departed the league. Lakewood and Stockbridge left the CAAC, and created a new conference with five other Lansing area schools, called the
Greater Lansing Athletic Conference (GLAC).
Jackson area schools: Jackson Northwest, Parma Western, Jackson Lumen Christi, plus Charlotte left the conference and created the Interstate Eight Conference. Corunna made the decision to move east and join the Flint-based
Genesee Area Conference (GAC). The CAAC reduced to three divisions and eliminated the Gold Division. Currently the Blue Division has seven schools, the Red has six, and the White has eight. The 2017–18 school year, the CAAC experienced a minor change. Owosso departed the league and joined the
Flint Metro League. Former league member Charlotte, which was one of the seven schools that departed the league a few years prior, joined the CAAC once again, replacing Owosso in the Red Division. The 2018–19 school year, the CAAC went through re-alignment once again. DeWitt and Lansing Waverly joined the Blue, with East Lansing, Grand Ledge, Holt, Lansing Everett, and Okemos. In the Red, Fowlerville, Lansing Eastern and Williamston joined Haslett, Mason, and St. Johns. Charlotte and Lansing Sexton moved to the White with Eaton Rapids, Ionia, Lansing Catholic, and Portland. Jackson High School departed the league and joined the
Ann Arbor based
Southeastern Conference (SEC). In 2023 Lakewood rejoined the conference returning to the White Division along with Olivet, joining for the first time. Both schools came from the GLAC. ==Rainbow Divisions==